Grimm souls
by Grademaster
Summary: One day Salem came across a strange soul. Giving this to a beowolf of no particular consequence wasn't a very thought out action but she found no harm in it either. That this would result in a string of events throughout a century was not in any of her plans. Perhaps it's a good thing though.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** **Firstly I want to say that this story's first arc is based entirely on whatever facts I could scrounge up about the great war era of RWBY. There's a surprising amount of information if you pay attention. Every single hard fact from the era I've taken and drawn together in what I consider to be a mostly accurate depiction of the world of RWBY slightly before the great war, during it, and later after it disregarding the main character. I'll focus a lot on world building here both directly and indirectly to emphasize this.**

 **This story will focus on an OC but believe me when I say that he's not perfect in any way, shape, or form. He could be considered strong but in practice strength is entirely subjective. All characters in fanfiction are OCs. We can never really make them act exactly the same unless we're just reciting canon. Don't hate on OCs to put it shortly.**

 **This is more of an introductory chapter than an action packed one or an emotional one. It's setting the stage for bigger things too so it's shorter than most chapters in the future will be. My apologies for the info dump in a few places but I hope you understand that I just want to put it out there quickly so we can get to the meat of the story. That should be here next chapter or the one after. Maybe at four. I'm trying to pace myself somewhat though. Please review and tell me what you think I could improve upon. If I like the idea I'll try it out.**

 **Finally here is that I'll be uploading about twice or thrice a week. I've already written up to chapter thirty one prior so you'll have plenty to read soon. Don't worry about this being too short. It's going to be about a hundred fifty words until the first arc is done. I have three planned but I might make a fourth. Well... have fun reading you all. Do be honest in the comments. I'm not planning on blocking anybody unless they're just being plain rude with no helpful advice whatsoever. Well I'll probably not have to do that anyways.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 1**

 **The wanderer**

In Remnant there are creature called grimm. They are soulless creatures of unknown origins who strived to destroy humanity. They aren't exactly sentient. More like wildlife with a disposition to hunt humanity, especially those with the power called aura, but that's a different issue. One particular grimm, called Salem, was different though.

Salem was odd for a grimm. Maybe due to her extreme age or her abundance of power but Salem had grown sentience somewhere in her life and took the form of a human. She had skin pale as the moon shattered in the sky and eyes red as blood. Her dress was made of grimm spider silk and flowed well whenever Salem cared to flourish it.

She never mindlessly chased after prey like her subordinates, the aforementioned black creatures, called grimm, but instead she was waiting. For what it was only she knew or would tell. Most assume it is the slaughter of the races of mankind.

In this specific time Salem was playing with a soul rather than devouring it as she often did. It had been brought to her attention that a soul had wandered into the world called Remnant from a void of sorts and practically fallen into her lap briefly after. It was fascinating that such an event could occur and rather frightening as well. If souls could pass the void between worlds then what else could? It was all rather frightening in Salem's private opinion though if some dimensional behemoth decided Remnant would be a tasty treat it wasn't a if she could do anything about it so she left such thoughts alone.

The wandering soul was an odd thing. It sat on a sort of desk Salem had acquired not doing much of anything. That was the problem, actually. Normal souls would be crying and rocketing around after death without a body to contain them. The soul would then decompose into energy to be absorbed into the world as what was called natural energy, which would then turn back into a soul in a child, form into dust, or be consumed for magic by a maiden, used to power the grimm, or the rare practitioner of the art of magic without any special boon like the maidens.

It was a sort of cycle of energy that the odd soul seemed to break. Even with an encouragement of sorts to break down the soul remained perfectly composed not doing anything of note. It was a breaking of the cycle that she did not understand.

The soul was odd and seemingly rather mundane except for the stability of it and that it came from across the void between worlds. If it wasn't for those two factors it wouldn't be of much more use than a lamp.

Giving the soul an exasperated look Salem monitored the world as it was through the use of a peculiar grimm called a seer. Though the events of the outside world were important for Salem's budding plans of world domination Salem couldn't take her mind off of the odd soul. It was simply so queer that it demanded attention from her. And so with a sigh Salem turned to look at the soul once more only to spy a Beowolf appearing at the entrance to the room.

In a moment of epiphany or perhaps recklessness Salem stood still for a moment, eyes locked onto the Beowolf. That Beowolf had become what Salem referred to as a pet. She had seen humans value those animals they called dogs and decided she may as well get one of her own if only to show the humans that she had everything. The fact that only a few humans knew Salem existed was forgotten in the spur of the moment. Even if they knew Salem had a pet dog they really wouldn't care.

Typically when a Beowolf ate a human soul the soul would be repeatedly tested and strained until the soul broke. The soul fragments would endure the same process until the soul was divided so small that the broken soul energy, now natural energy, would leak out of the grimm's body. Some energy would never leave the grimm and make the grimm stronger, which made alpha beowolves and the like. Even so, grimm would slowly absorb ambient natural energy to both fuel them and advance them. The process was terribly slow though. One human soul was several days worth of natural energy. More if the soul was from an awakened human, called huntsmen by the humans.

Acting on a whim of sorts Salem leaned down slightly and offered the grimm the odd soul as a treat of sorts. Maybe the soul simply needed to be broken down and would offer massive amounts of energy? Maybe so or maybe not. The grimm, named Fluffy because of his fur, regarded the soul for a moment as though considering whether it wanted to eat the soul in the first place. With the sort of nonchalance you'd expect of a cat rather than a wolfish looking devourer of human souls the Beowolf casually munched on the soul and sat there staring at Salem as though expectant of more treats.

For just a moment throughout the black castle Salem lived in there was complete and utter silence. Not even the grimm shuffling outside made a noise… but nothing happened.

With a sigh and the smallest of smiles over the fact that nothing had gone horribly wrong Salem strode back to the waiting seer to gaze over the land finally free of the odd soul that had seemed so important just a minute ago. Fluffy, somewhat disappointed at the absence of treats walked to his mistresses' feet and collapsed in a huff, as though what had just happened was incredibly tiring. And so the odd soul was forgotten by everyone. For just the moment that is.

|-\\\/-|

For some time the odd soul sat in the beowolf's stomach to be decomposed into natural energy as all souls did when in the stomach of a grimm. For perhaps months the soul broke down yet it never became the abundant natural energy Salem had hoped for. It remained in many tiny pieces that absolutely refused to break. The broken soul would sink into the grimm rather than convert to natural energy like water would sink into paper.

Soon enough all the soul energy was decomposed into the beowolf as the odd soul reformed. This time, however, the soul didn't reform in the stomach. It latched onto the body of the beowolf. Like it would a human except human souls were simply tied to the body to pass upon death. This time the soul completely merged with the beowolf in a unique way that Salem had only seen in a few other beings before.

And that is how Dexter was brought into the world from his last one. His soul wasn't formed fully in his new form and his body wasn't the same as it used to be but he was the same Dexter he was before he died. There were only a few complications. Due to Dexter's soul being shattered in the beowolf's stomach Dexter's memories were shattered as well. A shame. Given time they might reform if only slightly.

Luckily the general common sense and such had been relatively unscathed and sure, the aura, also called the soul, was fractured and unstable but Dexter would be alright given a few centuries.

The consumption of such a soul and granted sentience had some… unexpected effects. It is unlikely that the true effect could have been predicted. Those effects remained hidden from all though. Unknown to the world. They might reveal themselves in time.

Since his soul was a soupy mess of shards at the moment the body would typically reflect that yet grimm instinctually shy away from becoming soup similarly to humans avoiding liquefying their internal organs. Besides, you can't eat souls if you literally cannot eat. So Dexter's body stayed mostly the same in form even if he could change shape according to his aura. Except for one small detail. Dexter's mask of bone disappeared.

Not that anybody had noticed this of course. Salem had returned to her study most of the time to make new grimm to unleash upon humanity or to brainstorm. There was nobody in the castle to brainstorm with her but Salem preferred to sit on her throne and think there anyways. Practicing to look royal and graceful was also important. It was certainly crucial to her future plans. Adopting the air of royalty would be useful.

Fluffy, still an adolescent, was woefully ignorant that it's primal mind was being erased to make way for the rational thought and empathy that arrived with a soul. The process was subtle as well and would take a few months. Months that nobody was paying much attention to Fluffy.

Normally grimm are black in body with white and red bone masks adorning them. Older variants used bone as armor. Dexter was still young so he had few bones at all. Now, however, Dexter was almost entirely black barring his eyes...

The phrase "eyes are the window to the soul" was shown in many cases from the grimm to the maidens of the seasons and to the grimm themselves. In Dexter's case his eyes grew more receptive to the souls around him. This is due to a very different reason than something as simple as being closer to his aura.

Dexter was a grimm and grimm are not creatures who have souls of bubbly happiness like humans and certain animals do. Calling grimm demons would not be too far from correct. And so Dexter did not have the happy and bubbly feeling that human aura had.

His aura functioned the same way as most souls but it was still different. It was akin to a different variant of aura. Dexter's aura was a dark indigo with hints of black in it due to the body and soul merging and you can see it in Dexter's eyes. They were unmistakably heterochromic. One eye was Indigo and one was the standard red of the grimm. A strange conflict of colors.

Looks aside Dexter was somewhat together again with his broken soul and Salem could see so. It was curious to her that the mask fell off as well as the change in eye color but there was really no other explanation than that the odd soul changed her pet for better or worse.

Of course, despite Salem's rash move in feeding her Beowolf an odd soul she was by no means stupid. She could tell that the beowolf, even if it was changed, was still hers to command. This put Salem in an odd position as for how to deal with the beowolf. She disliked the idea of having an unknown grimm around her yet killing the grimm would be a tragic waste of potential. So she came to the conclusion that she will send the grimm to do what grimm did best. Kill humans.

The next day Salem sent her poor possesed pet Fluffy off of her continent with the philosophy of 'out of sight out of mind' with a vague command of "Wander the world. Return should you become strong. Return if I order you to do so."

It was a rather confusing command with no real objective other than to wander. Growing strong was optional as shown by Salem's wording and could only be achieved with time or combat. To provide power and experience. Having a weapon and knowing how to use it were both important after all and the same could be said of having strength and knowing how best to use it.

Dexter sat at Salem's feet for a moment before deciding to go away from the sunset. East. From the vague maps in Salem's rooms Dexter knew of a peninsula from the dark continent that neared Sanus. So he departed.

Moments after Salem watched her odd beowolf depart she walked back to her castle as she spawned another Beowolf to act as her pet.

"Come along Fluffy" She said without minding her new pet.

The Beowolf happily trotted alongside her already knowing it's purpose in life and Dexter the odd Beowolf was promptly put out of Salem's mind as she returned to plotting. Plotting and waiting.

If she just knew what she had done she might have clung to her old pet like a scared mother. Or she might have simply let it go. Maybe even killed it. Whatever it is she would have done is inconsequential. She let it go and continued as she was. And thus the being called Dexter left the being he called mother to fulfill her wishes.

It would be a long time before he returned. A long time indeed.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter found quickly that he enjoyed traveling. Seeing new ground was fascinating for him. While walking for a few days had been somewhat tiring it really wasn't all that bad. He had passed by rolling hills, a few rocky cliffs, and a sparse forest so far. Dexter's favorite sighting had been an old grimm dragon that was sleeping in a cave. Dexter considered fighting it for a moment since he was in need of fighting experience but decided that he wouldn't be fighting if he attacked it. He'd simply be killing himself. A smart decision, he later decided.

It didn't occur to Dexter that he wasn't supposed to fight the grimm but rather fight the humans (Salem wouldn't mind even if she did know). Dexter had been told to be strong and fighting is how he will become so. It didn't matter whether Dexter fought grimm, humans, cats, bears, sharks, or anything really. So long as they helped Dexter to improve. For the moment Dexter was traveling though. Wandering.

Most would have found this travelling boring but as the days passed Dexter wondered at the scenery. He had never truly seen outside the castle before. There was so much green in the world. He felt no happiness but through the eyes of one like a child in mind it was incredible and beautiful. Never mind that the vegetation on his mother's continent was sparse and half dead it was no leff wonderous to Dexter. Boredom was a fiction.

While traveling Dexter noticed that he had a sort of some sort of malleable energy in him that he could use. He'd first noticed the energy when he'd been tired and laid down. Dexter didn't sleep because he was a grimm and grimm don't need to sleep and because if a beowolf pack passed by Dexter wanted to fight a few to learn more combat experience. Dexter had not thought about anything on his guard and had accidentally fallen into meditation. A lack of the mental maturity to be bored worked in his favor for the moment. And so he found the energy of his soul. Aura.

With focus Dexter tried pulling the energy out of him and found that his claws could be sharper, his muscles could be more powerful, and he could even quickly heal injuries with it so long as he channeled it to the proper location. The discovery of how to heal injury certainly did not come from running into a tree because he was so excited over running faster.

All great things must come to an end, though, and as such Dexter's energy ran out. Dexter might have imagined it but did it seem just slightly easier to control? And it was definitely bigger now even if by the smallest of amounts. To help make the reserves of Dexter's energy bigger Dexter resolved to deplete the reserves of energy whenever possible and learn to control it better. Being fast and strong was very important in a fight after all. Besides, using the energy could help Dexter travel faster as well. The more he had the better.

It was only a few hours after the discovery of Dexter's aura that he ran into his first pack of beowolves. It was only a group of four and they were all quite young. Dexter was smaller than the size of your average Beowolf even if he was faster and stronger due to aura. He was fully matured physically yet the boney spikes and plates of an alpha Beowolf would never grow in due to an effect of Dexter's aura melding somewhat with his body but he didn't know that.

These less matured beowolves were slightly larger than Dexter with one of them being at it's full natural size, the size of a horse roughly. So they wouldn't be much of a match for Dexter who was smarter and stronger than them.

Dexter started off the fight with a bite to the throat for one of the younger beowolves. The young one's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting an attack from it's own kin, and was killed quickly. It took a moment for the other three to ready themselves for this unexpected fight. Dexter had moved on from his first kill already and was darting to the left of another small Beowolf with a boost of speed from his aura. The Beowolf wasn't able to react in time and could only try to raise a paw to block the incoming blow. Dexter was already mauling the mask his brethren, however, and this Beowolf died like the other one.

The remaining two beowolves hadn't been idle as their pack was killed and the mature Beowolf was jumping towards Dexter with it's powerful hind legs. Dexter, barely noticing in time, rolled onto his back and locked his paws with that of the Beowolf. His hind legs were free and so Dexter clawed the stomach of the attacker while keeping it at bay. The Beowolf cried out and collapsed to the side in pain. The final Beowolf approached Dexter on his back and locked it's jaws onto Dexter's shoulder.

With a roar Dexter tried to dislodge the young Beowolf but it was in vain. So dexter leapt to the side and rammed the Beowolf into a tree. This shocked the Beowolf enough to let Dexter dislodge his shoulder and bite into the Beowolf. This attack wasn't a targeted strike like the one before. This was a raw primal fury that could be called nothing more than a mauling. The flailing Beowolf only managed to get a weak scratch on Dexter before dying.

Dexter calmed himself down somewhat before turning to the mature Beowolf that was injured but still alive. The Beowolf seemed to know that it had lost but it kept itself in the fetal position due to the pain. Dexter felt an odd emotion in him. Pity. The Beowolf hadn't known that Dexter would attack and it had been happily exploring the dark land like Dexter. With a sad look Dexter stomped on the beowolf's mask twice before the mask broke and the grimm finally died.

For just a moment Dexter questioned his orders. Was what he just did really what the strong did? It spread only suffering among those like Dexter and there was no reason to do such a thing. "No," he decided. Dexter simply wasn't strong enough. The first two had died quickly because of speed and surprise. They passed painlessly. But the other two had suffered because Dexter wasn't strong enough.

He couldn't stay in control and that was a weakness. A hindrance to his strength. If he'd been stronger then his kind wouldn't have had to suffer before their death. No matter if his kind had to feel pain or not Dexter would still grow strong through combat because that is what his queen and creator commanded. There was no other way of gaining combat experience than combat.

It was good at least that the grimm hadn't died for nothing. Dexter had learned plenty from the fight. To never expose his stomach, to use both his hind legs as well as his forearms when possible, and to never take your eyes off of any of his enemies. That last one had been learned the hard way.

For a moment Dexter felt his injury itch. It was… Healing? Upon closer inspection it was his energy doing something in that spot that made his flesh regrow itself. How helpful! But… couldn't it shield him rather than heal him? It would be far more convenient that way.

With nothing else to do and all doubts settled Dexter continued his way to Sanus along the peninsula. If he encountered more of his kind he would kill them as well but Dexter hoped they wouldn't feel pain before they died. All he could do was try.

 **Omake: The succession of Fluffy**

The very first Fluffy. He died of getting hugged too hard by Salem. She was very enthusiastic about the first fluffy object she'd ever had.

The second Fluffy. Salem had punted him out the window after he peed on one of her rugs.

This Fluffy was one Salem simply forgot about. She spawned a new Fluffy after forgetting him in a now sectioned off portion of the dungeon. She never gave the okay command and so he shall forever maintain the stay command.

This Fluffy decided climbing walls was fun and that he should try climbing mount Salem. His fate was the same of the second.

This Fluffy was spawned only to be immediately punted out the window as stress relief after the fourth.

This Fluffy saw the death of the fifth and ran into the dungeons to escape his imminent doom. He lives with number three now.

Salem had the bright idea of dressing Fluffy up in tiny clothes. After being forced to dress as a fairy princess and having glitter dumped on him he decided death was preferable. The top of the tower is quite high.

This Fluffy was actually an ursa in an experiment by Salem to see if volume was proportional to Fluffiness. Finding that it was not and that ursas in the castle shed everywhere she made a the world's first ursa skin rug. It really is quite soft.

Continuing the experiment to see if other grimm could be softer than beowolves Salem made this Fluffy a cat grimm. This resulted in the cat and Salem entering a week long cold shoulder war after refusing to give Salem cuddles and emotional support. The cat was replaced by number ten soon after the week was done.

Number ten was a victim of an assassination attempt by number nine in an attempt to regain Salem's affection. It died in a valorous attempt to kill the assassin. It failed.

Eleven was sent to kill number nine after weeks of Salem being unable to find the rogue Fluffy. It succeeded yet it lost an eye in the process. Salem sent it to the human territory with pride in it's skills as a warrior. It lives to this day.

This Fluffy was the victim of an uprising by number three and six. They were tired of the dungeons and had grown quite powerful from age.

This fluffy was fed a bad soul. It was sent to wander the world and it named itself Dexter.

This grimm still lives. It lives in blissful ignorance, believing itself the first of its kind. Fool.

 **AN: Some of you might be thinking that Salem was really acting off in this chapter and I'll tell you why. Salem doesn't have any subordinates to show a strong front to. There's nobody to show anything to and so Salem can act as she pleases. It's like how you act when you're at work versus how you act at your house. At work you have to act a certain way while at your home you act however you damn well please. Salem is at her home and so she acts the way she pleases. We only ever see her in front of her subordinates in the show so we never see past her tempered and stoic front. Finally, what do you think about the chapter length? I think it's fine as an introductory chapter but later the chapters get to be about six thousand words per chapter. Pretty big for a single chapter. Oh, and the next chapter will be tomorrow just to get the ball rolling on this fic. I'd like to give you all some stuff to puzzle over.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Yay! Another chapter! We still haven't gotten to the meat of the story. That will be here a few chapters ahead but we're getting there! Really! If you haven't been able to tell already this story isn't an action packed story of a badass on the road to godhood or anything of that sort. I'll be focusing on themes such as exploration and adventure but we'll be moving onto the best parts soon enough. Enjoy! Oh, and please leave any thoughts in the reviews. I read them all I swear!**

 **Also, some of the more astute viewers might notice that I tend to be wishy-washy about what kind of perspective I write in. I try to do 3rd person singular on Dexter but sometimes I dip into the thoughts of others such as Salem. This is intentional most of the time but if I dip into first person for the moment or something of that sort then my apologies. Last chapter was a special case since our MC didn't exist before being eaten by Fluffy the destroyer. I used Salem for a while because it was convenient and necessary for being clear on the story.**

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 **Grimm souls chapter 2**

 **The exploration**

The boarbatusk roared in fury as it stampeded towards a tree. It was an old one. A powerful one and a smart one. Before it hit a black blur jumped out of the way and the grimm was stunned. Where was the squish of it's enemies' death? _SKRIK_ \- A slick and wet sound of tearing went through the air. The boarbatusk seemed to trip on itself and lose momentum in a stumble but it was too late. It choked for a moment as it fell to the ground. The tree it was about to hit was covered in black now. The boarbatusk sublimated into the ashes its kind always did after death as it scattered into the wind.

Dexter panted heavily after such a fight. It was refreshing to taste the air after so long a the boarbatusk was charging him as he was against the tree was the only real dangerous moment but it was still a fight of sorts. Dexter had to collect aura into his legs and release it all at once in a jump away from the boarbatusk. As he rocketed past the boarbatusk's head he had slashed it's throat with his claws. It wasn't the first time Dexter had done so to finish the fight but it was still a little distastefully painful if the grimm realizes that it's dying. So Dexter generally drew the boarbatusks he fought into a rage first. It was less painful for them then.

It had been about three hundred full moons (25 years roughly) since Dexter's first fight and Dexter had spent most days fighting or training his aura. All the hard work showed greatly. Killing a boarbatusk was easy for Dexter now. It was the few beowolf packs that had gotten tired and even then he could have kept going for hours. Travelling for days had given Dexter plenty of stamina. There had been only one alpha in the pack of grimm but the boarbatusk had been pretty old. Old enough to have grown bone plates on it's sides and a thin sheet over it's stomach. The beowolf packs had worn Dexter down a bit and the boarbatusk had been difficult to bring to a rage. The better part of an hour had been spent avoiding attacks and taunting the boarbatusk with hits to the face. If Dexter had tried the boarbatusk would be dying in minutes but he wasn't willing to inflict pain when he knew he was capable of killing it painlessly.

In the 25 years since Dexter's efforts to grow strong he had focused hard on everything he could. Especially aura size and control. If it wasn't for aura Dexter's claws wouldn't be able to pierce the hide of the boarbatusk or his jaws wouldn't be powerful enough to crunch on an alpha beowolf's neck and break it, and traveling fast would be so much harder without the speed boost provided by aura. If Dexter's aura was full something was terribly wrong.

Aura had been constantly channeled to all parts of Dexter's body every moment of the day to make him stronger and faster than ever before. After years upon years of training Dexter was able to channel aura as such unconsciously and do so forever... Not a lot of it but constantly channeling aura through his body was a pretty big accomplishment for Dexter.

His aura regenerated at a speed faster than he could use it for the channeling! He could use more aura than the minimum required to channel but that would take more aura, which would drain his reserves. He would only do that in battle.

Through constant use of aura Dexter's control had skyrocketed making all the little things he used aura for seamless and easy as well as increasing the amount of aura Dexter had in reserve by 6 times what he had all those years ago. However, his exercises had been forced to stop. Years after the exercises Dexter had found that channeling more aura through his body was harmful. His core of aura continued to grow so long as he channeled aura but his body rejected more aura channeled. Violently. His arms still burned from when he forced a significant amount through the limb.

The progress made may seem crazy but Dexter still had to handle large packs carefully. He was always careful, of course, but extra caution was needed. If Dexter went all out he could take on twice as many enemies as he just did. Even three or four times if he used stealth at first.

Stealth was, besides aura, one of the biggest tools Dexter could use when taking out a group. A group in close combat could use teamwork to overwhelm Dexter but the enemies couldn't defend themselves from what was practically a shadow. Dexter felt himself lucky that he had been so gifted with being subtle and quiet. It was partially due to Dexter's small frame which he could fix and turn larger but he hated to do so.

One of the final two benefits of aura besides the healing and enhancement had been something rather unexpected. Shapeshifting. Dexter had discovered it when he had been so fed up with not going he turned to the one true solution, aura, and tried to fix it. He commanded his aura with all the pent up annoyance and rage he had over being a juvenile beowolf to change him. He had rapidly grown plates of bone and found he could manipulate his body however he pleased.

With more experimentation Dexter had found that he could become almost whatever he wished at an upkeep cost to his aura. A Deathstalker? Sure. A massive beowolf? Fine. Even a fish was doable. This led to one realization on the new forms. Complicated processes like synthesizing Deathstalker venom or breathing underwater were far beyond Dexter. Body mass and volume were things Dexter could easily change at will without issue so long as he regenerated aura fast enough but changing his body composition was beyond him. So he changed his goals. He made new forms.

Dexter's first form was a nevermoore. His arms became feathers, his snout a beak, and he lowered his body mass. Feathers were harder to make. Dexter had to steal a nevermoore's feather to make one of his own and apply them across his body. With a lot of trial and error Dexter could fly.

Dexter's second form was a larger version of what he called his standard form of a small beowolf. He just made himself bigger and added plates in important places. He became the size of a large alpha beowolf and added extra thick plates of armor over his skin rather than the spikes that normally grew on an alpha. The plates were hard to make but certainly worthwhile. Countless scratches had been avoided because claws weren't very good at slicing bone.

Dexter's third and final form was something he was very happy with. He didn't copy it off of a different creature but made it himself! It was something between a jaguar and a bobcat that was all black. The paws had been made extremely soft to muffle sound and the rest of the body was all muscle and tendons. Flexibility was more important than strength in this form but fine motor control as well as the body type to stay crouched for a long time were essential. One final addition was the tinted black membranes between the eye and eyelids. They were made to dim the light from Dexter's glowing eyes. They worked quite well. This form was specifically made so Dexter could sneak around wherever he pleased. In open combat it would be horrible since it was unarmored and had no capacity for anything other than a lunge or swipe. That was why Dexter would immediately go back to his beowolf form to fight back.

All the forms were hard to acquire except for one detail. It was hard to stay in them. Dexter always felt a sort of itch in the back of his head when he was in a different form that made them uncomfortable and the itch would be distracting in combat. Eventually the itch would fade away and Dexter could become comfortable in his new form but it took a long time to adjust to wearing a different skin. Eventually he got them down and the itch went away but it was a gruelling process because of how slow it was as well as the horrible itch. The itch wouldn't be noticed at first but after an hour it would be a feeling that something was wrong with his body and after a day Dexter could only endure the torment of the itch.

One of the saving graces of the forms was that body mass and composition could be changed at will. It was taxing to stretch that small grace too far but changing from a nevermoore the size of a ball to one the size of a tree was easily done. Too big or small was difficult to do though. A beowolf could only become so large. nevermoore's could get up to giant size without trouble but it soon became difficult after that.

All the gifts had been fantastically useful for Dexter despite the work he had to put into developing them but there had been odd happenings with Dexter's aura as well. Sometimes Dexter had remembered thinks he shouldn't remember. Blurred images of a mother, sister, job, and odd contraptions and grey rectangular buildings. They were memories of being a human.

Dexter had decided to mostly forgo the majority of the memories and continue his training. The memories had only been used to help train harder. Some knowledge had been shed on Dexter's energy and a few small pieces of information about the world of man. Dexter had enjoyed learning about aura and humans but even with the usefulness of the memories and knowledge of the world he resided in the memories unnerved him.

It was creepy to try to fit in the form of a man using the ability to shapeshift. It had felt both right and wrong. Dexter had only stayed in the form long enough to speak the language he learned, English, fluently and he immediately shifted back to his beowolf form and rolled around a bit, relishing his standard form. It was still better than the process of familiarizing himself with the nevermoore form was though. Flying was fantastically fun when the itch was weak enough to be ignored.

Dexter had done all this with no form of contact whatsoever. He had attempted to befriend other beowolves but had found them to be mindless compared to him. All other grimm were even worse. So he had spent 25 years doing nothing but traveling the peninsula around the soothing coastline and practicing aura and combat. It was mind numbing.

But finally! Finally! Dexter could be free! He shifted into his giant nevermoore form, which had roughly the wingspan of what humans called a semi truck and lifted off. A sigh escaped Dexter's beak and he found himself relaxing on the currents of air flying mostly east with a hint of south. It felt so right to finally be moving again. There was always something holding dexter to the dark lands of his birth when he wanted to go. He hadn't been comfortable as a nevermoore mostly but then the air currents had changed to north or south towards Vacuo or Mantle and it had been infuriating to wait when Dexter had seen everything he cared to.

There were so many options now that Dexter could fly. Sure he mostly would travel on the ground but if he wanted to travel to Vacuo he could do so in days. Atlas was cold and bad for flying but he could probably visit in the summer. Storms could be avoided too since having wet fur was just horrible. Wet feathers were far worse though.

A contented sigh escaped Dexter again. He couldn't help but do it for that second time. It was just that good! He even had a tailwind helping him out! With the warm sun on him, the feeling of freedom, and just everything in general being pretty great at the moment Dexter began feeling a bit drowsy. He rode that feeling and fell into a sort of trance while he trusted his instincts to guide him to Sanus.

|-\\\/-|

Two days later Dexter finally sighted land. It was a nice green color or healthy grass. It looked far nicer than the dark lands Dexter had been not long ago. In the distance there were mountains that rose quite high. On the right too there was a range of mountains blocking my view. Gazing around from up above there was a lake, some plains, a few ponds, and a few other things. Mostly there were trees EVERYWHERE! As far as the eye can see up until the mountains. There were also some grimm here and there. If I was in beowolf form it would take me days to move from one landmark to another.

Dexter broke his viewing for a moment. _CRACK!_ A sound like thunder boomed with a flash below the trees. Out of curiosity Dexter lowered himself a bit and circled where the flash had taken place. Looking closely there was a discoloration behind the treetops but the leaves blocked the view.

Compressing himself to a smaller nevermoore about the size of a crow Dexter landed himself on a branch and looked towards the origin of the flash. Then he heard a sound…

"Damnit Rodney! The hell do you think you're doing!"

"I can't help it! The beowolf startled me! I didn't mean to!"

" _Humans!_ " Dexter thought with his mind racing. His queen had often complained about how difficult humans were to deal with. They were the killers of grimm and had aura like Dexter did but theirs was apparently different than his.

Taking a closer look towards the humans Dexter noted their looks. One of them was young and carried a long tube. " _A rifle"_ Dexter recognized. He was dressed in dark green to blend in with the forest along with an orange undershirt.

The older one was a little taller with slightly faded brown and a dark blue vest. He carried a short sword, knife, and a crossbow. Dexter could tell this man was the more experienced of the two from just a glance. It was in the way he carried himself. His legs were slightly bent, his arms strayed a comfortable distance from his weapons and his eyes were alert. The younger one had a looser stance with his focus fully on the older man rather than his surroundings. It would be childs play to catch him unaware.

"That beowolf wouldn't have noticed if you'd just learned the technique I've been trying to teach you. And if you hadn't been flirting with that girl you've been eyeing than you would have learned it too."

"You're the one that called me a lonely geek with no girl."

"And now you're a lonely geek with no girl and no skill. Pretty soon you won't have a master either."

"That's an empty threat and you know it. What would you do all day if you didn't have me around to make your life hard?"

Were those two bickering? They did realize that that gunshot probably attracted a lot of attention, right? It hadn't even been a minute around humans and Dexter already thought them odd.

"Won't that shot attract the grimm?"

Exactly!

"Yes. And that's why we're canceling the hunt for today. There's not going to be any deer around with that noise and I don't want to fight any grimm either. Now come on. I want my dinner."

There it was! Humans weren't stupid at least. It was also good that the humans were heading back so soon after Dexter had found them. Finding a human settlement had been an objective of Dexter's and finishing it so quickly would have brought a smile to his face had he had a mouth and not a beak.

Without a word the humans went off at a jog with Dexter lazily flying above them. Taking a closer look at the ground they were running on it was clearly well tread. The ground was flattened to the point that it was practically a dirt road.

It wasn't long before the two hunters arrived at their settlement. Seeing it past the treeline Dexter gained some altitude and flew a little faster. Looking down on the village he could see that it was pretty small. Maybe forty houses at most with a few other buildings that were nicer and probably meant as a public space. There was a wall of stone brick around the village with a few watchtowers as well.

Most of the houses were small. Maybe two to four rooms and a sparse few with a second floor. Most of them were made of wood. The wall was pretty small and thin too. If a man jumped he could probably scale it easily. All in all, the village was poor and probably worked to collect lumber, herbs, and venison. That was more of an educated guess on Dexter's part, however.

More of Dexter's interest were the lights around the village. The guards around the wall and a man in one of the nicer houses had a sort of glowy light surrounding them. It came in different colors of indigo, blue, yellow, white, red, green, and everything in between. At least, from what Dexter could see. There weren't any mixed heterogeneous colors like blue and yellow around. Most of the lights were bright but a few were faded. The faded ones were all tired looking guardsmen in a sparring yard at what looked to be a barracks judging by the guards and training yard.

The people in the town weren't as well dressed as the hunters seen previously. Perhaps the hunters needed specific clothing for carrying traps and ammunition? It seemed likely to Dexter. They hadn't been carrying backpacks except for a quiver. The townspeople wore tanned leather and threadbare cotton. A few men didn't even bother wearing a shirt but they were cutting lumber and looked very sweaty, or boody in the case of the butcher, so it was understandable. If Dexter owned any clothes he wouldn't want them getting so dirty either. Then again, Dexter didn't sweat in the first place so he would be fine.

Looking just a little harder Dexter could see two of the guardsmen sparring. One of them landed a hit and the light of the other diminished significantly. The hit guardsman didn't seem to be hurt despite the sword slash. It seemed that the attack was blocked by the glowy light. Come to think of it, the glowy stuff seemed a lot like aura-wait a minute…

Grimm couldn't see aura normally except for some of the more powerful ones. That took a hundred years at least and Dexter had only lived for about twenty eight in all. Discounting that Dexter had reached the peak of his physical growth even if he was far too young for it. Grimm didn't have any sort of growth peak actually. They were considered fully grown after their first few years because after that growth decreased exponentially.

Dexter had only been two when he had had his soul absorbed with him. That was when his growth stopped. After that he'd only developed his soul and skills. So, logically speaking, Dexter's power was proportionate to his soul. Not his age. This probably led to his ability to see souls and was perhaps the reason for his shapeshifting or at least a part of it.

On one hand this was a good thing. Having the ability to shapeshift was a fantastic ability that others would certainly envy had they known of it. The physical enhancement was also quite useful.

On the other hand Dexter had to actively train his soul unlike most grimm. After a certain point grimm would stop all activity and hibernate. There were only a few cases of this happening since grim often died so Dexter only knew of them because of his queen talking to herself and the instinctual knowledge all grimm had. Other than the hibernation Dexter knew that he was the first of his kind. Grimm didn't have souls. Dexter wasn't even born with his soul. Or, more specifically, Dexter's body wasn't his own. Dexter had long known his body wasn't his first. He'd also realized that he was once a human and he was alright with that.

With the newfound knowledge of aura Dexter was faced with an old problem. What to do. The village seemed interesting enough but Dexter already knew a fair bit about humans from his past life. Also, there was no reason to fight the guards here. All of them were absolutely horrible at swordsmanship or spearsmanship or whatever you cared to name. The colorful looking guard seemed to be a good fight but Dexter was in no mood to fight a dozen guardsmen no matter how weak they were. The real reason was the older man with aura.

The older fellow had a bright and large light surrounding him. This meant he had a potent aura and a lot of it. It wouldn't be a big leap to say he's the local huntsman or a retired one. Even with his hair turned grey the man looked great. He was muscular and broad shouldered with a greatsword on his back. It was odd and somewhat comical to see him buying groceries and carry around a sword of that size. Maybe the youthful appearance was a side effect of aura?

Dexter wouldn't mind fighting a huntsman but the fellow was old and that was scary. Old meant that he had seen action and a lot of it. Besides that there was an instinct in Dexter that said

" _STAY THE HELL AWAY! RUN! RUN! RUN! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!_ "

And Dexter ignored it. The man hadn't seen Dexter flying around and nobody who looked at him thought much of it.

So because of the old huntsman and the multitude of guardsmen Dexter would not be attacking the village.

But now that Dexter had decided what not to do he had to think of what TO do…

Head east a bit more? It was that or Vacuo and Dexter was sure as hell not going to sneak around the village to look for a map. Even if the humans mistake dexter for a weird looking bobcat or dog because of his heterochromia there was no reason to risk it.

So Dexter headed east once more with knowledge gained and none the worse for wear.

|-\\\/-|

Traveling east was peaceful. Rather than flying Dexter was walking in beowolf form. If there were any grimm native to only the area around northern Vale Dexter wanted to meet them and fight them. Normal Beowolves and boarbatusks and Giant nevermoores were boring now. nevermoores weren't viably killable since Dexter had no ranged attack to speak of so Dexter had to fly up to them as a little nevermoore and shift into a beowolf and tear it's throat out from behind. Deathstalkers were somewhat tough but their stings hurt badly and they were pretty rare. Everything else was too strong for Dexter. So he held out hope for something on his level. Something he could kill somewhat quickly.

So far there hadn't been anything worth mention. A few beowolf packs but they weren't even worth fighting.

At least the scenery was nice. There were a few cliffs, a seemingly infinite amount of trees, and a beautiful river. The river had flowed from north to south and peacefully gurgled across the rocks. Dexter had splashed around for a bit and played with some of the fish.

It was an odd sighting, then, to find two humans arguing with each other. Upon finding them Dexter had slid into his cat form, though it was more of a lynx, really, that he had tortured himself into becoming comfortable with, and slinked into the shade of the trees.

"We can't go! Vacuo isn't safe either! Nowhere is safe!" A woman in sparse armor cried. She had on mostly grey with her blonde hair in a ponytail. A sword was at her hip and a shield on her back.

"And why not? Anywhere is better than Vale right now. Vale, Mantle, and Mistral. They're all dangerous. The war will be brutal. Any fool can see that but Vacuo is neutral ground. It's safe. We can still run." The speaker this time was another woman in blue. She had short hair and wore light leather armor. She also had a bow and a few daggers.

"Because it's our responsibility! We swore our lives to the king! If - if we go to the settlements then we'll be heroes! We'll be doing what we've been trained to do for so long… But what if everything we worked for is just left? We can't leave our family. I can't leave my family."

"Sarah…" The blue one didn't seem to know what to say to that. It was understandable. The blonde one, Sarah, had been pretty fired up but had died down pretty quickly.

"I-... look, I… I can't leave my family. My brother depends on me. My father and mother are so proud of me. I couldn't have ever gotten where I am if I was alone. I couldn't have gotten here without you either. Please… don't make me choose."

Dexter was pretty surprised at such a dramatic moment. He had thought for a moment that he would see some blood spilt but it was a heartfelt moment instead.

"Please, Sarah. Jem is going too. Carmen is supposed to be told tonight. We can all go together! You know Carmen would agree if you asked. The eastern islands are going to be a slaughterhouse soon. We can't go. If your family hear you're dead they'll be shattered. If they hear you're only missing they'll be sad but at least they'll know you're alive. Please, if not for yourself then for me. Please." The woman in blue was really speaking from the heart here. From what Dexter could tell these two and two other people were being assigned to a military hotbox that's going to explode into conflict pretty soon. The blue one wanted to flee to Vacuo, which is neutral, and the grey one wanted to stay and fight for loyalty.

"... No. Camilla, we're heroes. Huntresses. We're here to fight for what's right. What they're doing in Mistral and Mantle. Slavery. Oppression. They can't even paint there, Camilla! The poor people can't do anything. We have to fight just to be ourselves and if not for them then for us. We have to fight."

"Please." The blue girl, Camilla said. There were tears in her eyes now. She practically pushed out the words with how thick with sadness they were. How are there no grimm here?

"I'll make you stay. You have to stay. There's so much we have to do here."

The blue one smiled just a little bit. "Oh?" _sniffle_ "How?"

Sarah smiled and said something words couldn't say. She kissed Camilla.

 _"Okay, WHAT?!"_ Dexter was not prepared for that. They didn't really come off as that type... The two girls were getting pretty into it. Dexter had been hoping for blood. Not _this._ He was getting very uncomfortable watching this but maybe the two will get attacked by some grimm? Maybe? Anything besides making himself feel like a creep?

"Camilla." Sarah panted

Camilla was panting too and looked at Sarah. She was still pinned against the tree.

"Say please."

Dexter ran. He ran FAST.

 **AN: NO! You can't do this to me! It wasn't porn! I swear! Okay, anyways, have you figured out what the first arc is about? You probably have but if you haven't it's going to be about the great war. Also called the color revolution. I'll be explaining it a bit more later on and adding my own details to it but you can read about it on the RWBY wiki. In the show it's pretty much just trivia but here it really matters.**

 **It's just a small thing right now but I haven't mentioned any mechashift weapons. All the swords are swords and the bows are bows. They aren't a toaster, flamethrower, and jet plane too.**

 **You see, the great war sped up technological progress a lot. There isn't any more information on the technological advancement than that but the way I see it guns are a somewhat new thing. Bows and swords are still common. Guns and vehicles are only available in mass to places of technological advancement such as Mantle.**

 **See, Atlas provided a lot of the technology in the show in my opinion. Holograms, bullheads, airships, AI, and such are being attributed to Atlas advancement by me. Aura has also largely negated the need for range. Who needs a rifle when you can deflect bullets with a freaking forcefield? I'll be going into this more later in the story. Maybe.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Okay! Another chapter for the road. Am I moving too fast through this? We've moved on from the exposition here to the rising action of the story. I tend to move pretty fast through stories because I hate lingering on some obscure detail for five pages. Worldbuilding is fine and action is great. Emotions are also important but there's a fine line between going into detail and TLDR. So I write with scarce details often. This leads to me going through events pretty quickly. I'm getting better at writing with more detai at least. The first chapter was three thousand five hundred words and this one is about five thousand or more.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 3**

 **The people**

Dexter, after escaping those two in the forest -and what sane person would do _that_ in a grimm infested forest?- trotted next to the road those girls were walking on. Dexter wasn't on the road because he might run into a huntsman or huntress but he wasn't leaving the road because he wanted to follow it. And going as a nevermoore would be missing out on all the interesting creatures and plants to see.

So far on Sanus there had been some queer white trees, flowers with a sweet and fresh scent better than any other, and several weird creatures. There had been some odd looking ape with big feet and several far more interesting species of bugs. Dexter thought all spiders had to have that red hourglass on their abdomen but some were seemingly small and brown. There had also been a ferret and a squirrel that were fighting over some nuts that were fun to watch. Dexter had cheered the squirrel on every step of the way until it lost.

Moving onwards the path seemed to become nicer the longer Dexter travelled. The road became cobblestone after an hour and significantly smoother later on. There had been a caravan of humans carrying rugs and a few clothes chatting about mundane things. The forest grimm around a town called Nackers were apparently lashing out more than usual.

After hours of trotting along Dexter saw it. It was a town not too big but not too small with plenty of commerce that could be seen even at a glance. There was a proud sign that pronounced it as Bannickers. People in the streets were dressed far more finely than the last village and were noticeably fatter. They had cotton clothes dyed exquisite colors of orange, gold, blue, and red. Their houses were stone brick and their streets were lined by stalls sporting plenty of foods, coffee, clothes, accessories, pots and pans, and a few with weapons.

Seeing all the activity and hearing all the sound up close made Dexter a bit disoriented for a moment. It faded pretty soon and Dexter decided to move in closer along the street in his feline form.

"Teas! Coffee! Fruits! And foods from all over!"

"Weapons! Sharp as can be!"

"Sir! You look like a man who can see these as the best jewelry around!"

"Anything for a room right here! Any kind of furniture for you!"

The yelling was dizzying and annoying to say the least. Something caught Dexter's attention amidst all the chaos. " _What is that smell?!_ "

Some pastries with a godly good smell were being sold at a stall by a large and portly looking man… Ah, why not? Dexter made himself smaller, roughly the size of a large kitten, and snuck by the feet of the vendor. They kept a basket of fresh pastries underneath the counter of the stall and they smelled fantastic! Quietly stepping into the hollow compartment Dexter's eyes glimmered in spite of his neutral look. Then he took a bite…

|-\\\/-|

Barthy Port was a happy man if he had to say. His wife made some of the best pastries around and if anybody disagreed they deserved to be pitied. They clearly had no taste buds to speak of.

Barthy's wife Terra Port loved three things. Baking, travelling, and her husband in that order to Barthy's eternal sorrow. Terra just gave Barthy a pastry of any sort and Barthy would accept why he was third on her list.

Because of his and his wife's love of travelling Barthy and his wife were constantly doing so. They would ask to rent out the oven of whatever inn they were staying at and Terra would bake as Barthy would sell. Sometimes it was better to sell wares of a different sort than pastries but pastries tended to pay the bills better than anything else. So they travelled and sold and were very happy.

On this particular day Barthy was selling plenty of croissants, cinnamon rolls, and a few apple tarts and such. They were fresh baked from the inn he and his wife were staying at and business was going at a lethargic pace. It was nice to just lean back in his chair and feel the sun on his face as he kept a lazy smile on his face. He didn't need to yell like the other merchants for the moment since the smell brought more customers than anything. It was for moments like these that Barthy loved his work.

It was then that he noticed that he was out of cinnamon rolls for the display of his stall. They were really selling today! Barthy leaned himself forward and patted around for the basket he knew had the rolls. It should be the farthest on the right. Hm? Empty? Had he really sold that many? Oh well. Perhaps the apple tarts then. What?! By the brothers this one is empty too?! Barthy knew something was up. He got off his chair and crouched down to peer into the compartment.

A black cat was laying there passed out. This was immediately alarming to Barthy. Had the poor thing eaten his pastries?! Oh no! Cats aren't supposed to eat cinnamon rolls! Barthy softly put two fingers on its chest to feel for a heartbeat and felt the familiar _Ba bump. Ba bump. Ba bump._ He let out a sigh of relief. Then he stopped for a moment and focused on his hearing. _Purrrrrrrrr_ … A smile came on Barthy's face as he heard the purr of the cat. He wasn't terribly upset over the loss of his pastries. There were plenty to go around.

Barthy grabbed a basket of some pastry he didn't bother to inspect and set them out on the stall. He then reached out and picked up the cat. He lifted it out carefully so as not to wake it and set it on his lap. He kicked his feet on the stall and placed the cat in his lap. The little critter curled up near instantly and Barthy let out a contented sigh. He kept one eye open to make sure nobody pulled a fast one on him but soon both eyes of his closed and he fell asleep even in the bustle of the lively town.

Around Barthy and the cat there seemed to be a quiet place where no noise seemed to violently invade the ears. It was as though the man and the small cat had a field around them that nobody was able to disturb. One man was about to steal a bun for himself but his will wavered when he saw the peaceful scene of the big man and the little cat sound asleep. He payed for a honey bun and left with a smile on his face.

Barthy's wife, Terra, went outside to check on her husband and a laugh escaped her when she saw him napping with a kitten in his lap. She smiled and set out to restock the pastries and took one last glance at the scene.

"Lazy husband." She chuckled. Barthy woke up for a second and gave his wife a kind and grateful look before returning to his nap. "What's the use of being out here if you're just going to nap?" Terra asked herself before returning inside.

One woman cloaked in brown was walking through the streets and she glanced at the scene of the portly man and the kitten and sme smiled. Then she thought " _I wish I had a pet like that."_ And the smile faded away. Something stung her eyes and she recalled the familiar sensation of tears. One light sob escaped her lips and she bought a pastry with a longing look at the kitten and she briskly walked away. She left twenty lien on the stall of the portly man by accident. Not the four she was supposed to. The scene of companionship was far more important to her than the snack. No matter how sad a reminder it was.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter woke up on something soft. Something about that wasn't right but it didn't register in Dexter's foggy mind. He let out a high pitched yawn and rubbed his eyes with his paws. _"Oh."_ He thought. _"I fell asleep as a kitten."_ But something was still off. Hm? The ground is… Dexter stood still. He was sitting on a sleeping man's lap. An irritated mewl came out of Dexter's tiny mouth, which made him more annoyed. He stood up and jumped off. _"Now where were we?"_

Shifting into a larger cat form Dexter walked down the darkened street. The merchants were all gone except for a sparse few packing up. But with the removal of the bustle that left the town to explore. So now what?

With no other ideas Dexter closed his eyes and listened closely for any activity that might amuse him. There were plenty of people doing intimate things, which Dexter ignored, a few criminals of no interest, and, more to Dexter's interest, a tavern. Perhaps there would be someone of interest there.

With a short walk Dexter found himself at the tavern. Even outside you could tell it was a raucous place. There was a bar song being sung. Something about a cheating wife and a group of sailors. Or maybe it was a group of soldiers. You couldn't tell because of some idiot too drunk to sing properly.

With a look around and a few hops Dexter was on the window sill of a conveniently broken upper window. Walking through it led to a wooden beam on the ground floor. Inside was cozier than expected. There was a fireplace crackling in the middle of the room and a few comfy looking chairs surrounding it. Various people were lounging on it with a drink in hand. A few had a book in hand. On the outside of the ring were tables on the perimeter of the room were a few tables. There was a bar and kitchen lining one side of the wall. There were the singing drunkards at the bar there. Nobody was paying any attention to the wooden beams above them. There was actually a birds nest in the corner that Dexter doubted anybody knew about.

In the outer tables there was an old man with an amused look playing chess with a young man, a couple who were making eyes at each other, and a woman in a brown cloak with her hood down. Dexter absently noted that the cloaked woman seemed to be very sad and probably trying to get drunk. Something caught his eye though. The woman had aura? Interesting. It was a nice green but there was something off about it. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

Dexter resolved to keep an eye on the woman in the future. She certainly seemed like an interesting person at any rate. He doubted anybody could make it out in the dim lighting of the tavern but the woman was armed with a rapier and a few daggers for throwing. Concealed, of course. Dexter would have missed them if they hadn't flashed at him with the light from the fire. She didn't appear to be a huntress, though. A huntress has a certain feel to their aura. Like a controlled and deadly feel. The woman's felt like the feeling before a storm. And an odd feeling Dexter couldn't place.

For the moment Dexter listened to two people having an interesting conversation by the fire.

"How long do you think it will be before the war?"

"Months maybe? A year? It's sure looking like one though. A blind man could see it."

"The people building the colonies could fight each other. The Mistralians and Mantlians use slaves. That'll piss off the settlers."

"Oh. Why do they use slaves anyway? Doesn't that bring in the grimm?

"It does. It's easy enough to kill all the grimm in an area though. Then no more come unless something really bad happens. Cruel but efficient. Luckily they're mostly faunus but still…"

"So let me get this straight. The M's use slave labor, there's no art allowed, and there's slaves."

"Yes."

"What a shithole."

"Mistral isn't that bad. They mostly go along with it so they can stay friendly with Mantle. They need their expertise to settle those northern mountains they have their eyes on. Besides, they're zealots. Every single one of their huntsmen and women have a whole religious fanatic theme going on or so I've heard. I don't like it but at least they're happy to be serving their god-king."

"Right. That rubbish with the divine lineage. I'm just wondering… Why do they need the eastern islands? Those are on Sanus. They're Vale's."

"We never colonized them. Free territory is free."

"Right but why ours? They've got plenty of territory to focus on in Anima. It seems suspicious to me. It kind of looks like they want a foothold in Sanus so they can attack Vale."

"Oh hell! I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, you know what? Fuck em. We need a war. Get the Mistralians the hell out of our territory. I'll join up myself even."

"Hell yeah!"

What a useful conversation. So it's a territorial dispute as well as a clash of ideals, hm? The more Dexter heard about the war the more he wanted to learn more. It seemed terribly interesting. There would also definitely be a war pretty soon. With the attitudes of the people expecting a war there was no question.

The night grew a little older and a young and charismatic looking man eventually strolled up to the table where the woman was sitting.

"Hi. My name's Daniel. You are?"

The woman gave Daniel an exasperated look but seemed to come to the conclusion it would be easier to just play along when his charming smile stayed bright. "Laura."

"Laura, huh? I was wondering if you'd like to come over to the fire and chat with my friends and I. It's lonely to drink by yourself and we'd love to have the company of a beautiful woman such as yourself."

At the word lonely there was an odd look in Laura's eye and the boy noticed. Something about the boy seemed to set off alarms in Dexter's head. Oddly enough the boy wasn't armed yet Dexter didn't think his instincts would set off a false alarm.

"I appreciate the gesture but I'll have to say no. I wouldn't want to intrude."

The boy had a retort ready for that it seemed but Laura cut him off.

"I realize you wouldn't mind the company of myself but I would prefer not to ruin the mood of your party."

Daniel looked as though he would press the issue but he noticed that their conversation was being paid attention to by a few spectators. Pushing harder would be in bad faith. It might also attract other men in an effort to drive him away and 'steal her' from him. Or just kick his ass for fun. So he let out a sigh.

"If you feel lonely and care to join we'll be there."

Soon the night grew old and the drunkards either passed out or went home. Daniel and the two men he was with slipped out as well. The people by the fire left later than the others except for one young girl who just slept on the cushions. She looked remarkably like the bartender so she was probably his daughter. She seemed young enough for it. The woman in the brown cloak started being a little more reserved in her drinking and grew more somber. The odd thing about her other than everything about her from her aura to her weapons to her sadness was that she wasn't doing anything. Plenty of people had a book or a friend to talk to. One man brought a sort of puzzling contraption to solve. The woman seemed lost in thought and gazed over everyone else in the room. It would have been creepy if it wasn't for the soft look on her face.

The woman later got up, looking drunk, and walked to the bartender. A burly looking man who was cleaning up for the night.

"Excuse me?"

The bartender glanced up, finished his glass, and stopped for a moment. "Yes?"

"Is that boy a local or is he just passing through?"

"Oh, Daniel you mean? He's apparently with a caravan though I'm pretty sure he was only travelling with em'. If you care to see him he should be coming back to his room soon. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you company no matter the time of night."

Laura made a disgusted face at the suggestion of spending the night with Daniel. She didn't even dignify the barman with a response to that. She tossed down a few coins and left upstairs. Presumably to her room.

Dexter considered everything that could do with the woman. He could either walk away, the boring option yet the safe one, he could stalk her, the fun option and as medium as he could get, or he could travel with her, the dangerous option and possibly the most rewarding. Dexter settled between dangerous and boring for a nice interesting. So he would stalk her. It would be a nice challenge for his stealth abilities and it would satisfy his curiosity if not immediately. And so he waited for the woman to finish her cups and head to the second floor of the tavern to what was presumably her room. Dexter followed her by just walking up the stairs when nobody was looking. Getting into the woman's room was much harder. There was only the window and the door. With a slight sigh Dexter went back outside and looked through the window. She was naked.

Dexter politely turned away, cat or not it was impolite to stare, and glanced back when she went under the blankets. Oh, so she slept naked. Fine then. With that unnecessary bit of information Dexter looked through the room the woman was in. It was plain and boring. The only interesting things about the room were the lack of possessions the woman had for the moment and that the woman did not stray far from the sword. Dexter already knew the woman was cautious from the concealed weapons so it wasn't much of a surprise that she kept them close. The woman was also travelling as seen by the lack of possessions. There was a water canteen, a survival knife, and a map. Everything else was inside the pack and Dexter wasn't going to try to open the window or door and there was no other way to get inside. He would wait until morning playing with his aura on the roof of the adjacent building.

Late that night, or early in the morning, Dexter saw a man in black clothes with a knife in hand slowly climb up the wall of the tavern and inspect the rooms. When he came across the window to Laura's room, if that was actually her name, she stopped and gave a cold look. It sent shivers up Dexter's spine and put him on edge. The look was that of a beowolf about to hunt but different. Beowolves would attack because it was in their nature. This smile was one of more malice because the man could choose to attack or leave. It was revolting to Dexter that the smile was a relishment of an imagined kill. Besides the malevolence in the smile there was something else. Greed. In a way the greed put Dexter at ease because at least the kill the man made wouldn't be meaningless.

Something clicked in Dexter. The smile. The way the man was dressed. The weapon. This man was an assassin. He was going to break in and kill Laura for her own gain. For a moment Dexter considered stopping him. It would be childs play to kill the assassin with how focused he was on the mysterious woman, but… she had her own problems and it wasn't Dexter's responsibility to take care of her. Dexter was also curious whether she could handle the assassin.

The assassin pulled out a pry bar and slid it under the window. At least he came prepared. It made a soft clunk sound as it slid under but it really wasn't too loud. Dexter observed a small shift in the woman's aura. She was awake. Dexter also noticed that the storm inside her aura seemed to teem with energy. Like rather than a storm about to rumble there was a thunderbolt about to strike.

The assassin didn't seem to notice this as he latched his fingers under the window, pulled it up, and crept inside. When he was turned around and was silently closing the window, however, there was a tension in Laura's aura. Not the stormy presence but her aura in general. It didn't take a genius to tell she was ready to attack.

As the assassin removed his fingers from the window there was the smallest of noises as the window fell back down. A _thunk_ that would almost always go unnoticed. It was at that sound that Laura struck. With a flurry of sheets the rapier by her bed was in a motion for the assassin's neck. The movement was so quick and sudden that the assassin could only flinch backwards in a vague attempt to dodge. Instead of the rapier severing her head from his neck -the sword was VERY sharp anybody could see- his throat was cut. Aura dulled the blow but her strength broke through it it seemed. So it could be overwhelmed given enough force. Useful to know.

The assassin swiped his hand to his throat in an attempt to stop the blood but by the time his hand was at his throat the Laura's off hand had sprung from her side to the forehead of the assassin.

It was then, like an arrow shot from a bow, that the lightning bolt in the woman's soul was shot loose. It was deafening on a level where there wasn't sound. It was loud in Dexter's soul. The assassin opened his mouth in a soundless scream as he was disintegrating from his forehead down.

The mysterious woman's eyes were glowing with the loud energy. It was a ghostly dim blue energy. It was in the blue ethereal glow of the energy that Dexter could finally make out the face of the attacker. It was Daniel. How expected. The boy had been weird from the start. Laura seemed to notice this too and didn't seem to care.

The foreboding blue light faded from Laura's eyes and and she returned to normal. Or, as normal as she could appear. The corpse of Daniel had fully disintegrated by now and was all but ashes on the floor. The woman didn't even bother giving the ashes a second glance and just retrieved her bedsheet and went right back to sleep. Dexter incredulously noticed she still looked faintly tipsy. Or just very very tired. Probably tired. Did human's need a lot of sleep? He didn't actually know.

It was then that Dexter realized what Laura was. She wasn't a human. She was an **Alpha** human. She was the kind of woman that could kill a hundred of her lesser kind and come out unscathed. It was, to be frank, fucking terrifying. Dexter could be as fast as the woman was and he could make his claws as sharp as her sword but never could he match the raw unstoppable power the alpha possessed. It was in her soul. She just hid it.

It was without hesitation that Dexter realized he would be no match for Laura. A hundred Dexters would be no match for her. A thousand would probably kill her since her style of swords play seemed pretty stamina intensive at a glance but there weren't a thousand Dexters in the world and this was in comparison to Laura naked, in between drunk and hungover, and recently woken up. Not to mention that Dexter had a nagging feeling Laura hadn't even used the full extent of her power yet.

Rather than fear Dexter felt something else entirely. Excitement. This was a strong person. Not as strong as his mother but the strongest he had seen so far. Rather than try to kill her Dexter had a better idea. Learn from her. Laura's sword style was perfect for Dexter. It consumed a ton of stamina, which grimm of any sort have in spades, it was extremely deadly, and it ended enemies quickly by aiming for vital spots. It was _beautiful_. Dexter had only seen one good strike but it was enough to know the most bare details of the style.

Dexter, with all sorts of ideas on how to learn from the alpha human without getting slaughtered by her in the process, excitedly returned to his aura exercises with five times the enthusiasm as before. Aura was Dexter's speed, strength, weapon, and health. Having a large amount as well as the control to do channeling flawlessly was critical. But there was one thing Dexter had to change. He had to learn that sword style. It was an opportunity Dexter couldn't miss. So he made a new form.

This form was as close to the woman as Dexter could make it. It was masculine, of course, but close. The face was of particular concern to be his rather than hers. The face wasn't important for combat so he could do as he pleased with it. Dexter fiddled with it for hours trying to get everything right. Before he knew it Dexter had made himself quite handsome with pale skin. He wasn't trying to do that but oh well. It was good enough. The limbs were compact with muscle and lithe as the feline form Dexter had. The legs were the same but with more muscle on the toes and calves for acceleration and pivoting. The core of the human had to be as finely tuned as possible. A strong core was simple to make. Dexter took some qualities from the joints of a nevermoore's wings and some more of the feline dexterity and it worked out as well as Dexter could hope for. Some fine motor control in the fingers was added as well. Dexter considered whether to add what makes a man a man and decided to do so. He may as well. Also, the form felt strangely incomplete without it. It just seemed like a good idea and no harm could come of it.

Still, however, the form felt off. What was wrong? Everything was the way it should be for a human. Oh! For every form Dexter had had he had a tail to help with balance. And two of his three forms had ears on top of their heads. Not on the sides. So what to do about that? Well, the simplest solution was to give his human form ears and a tail but he couldn't do… that… Faunus. Of course. Dexter was an animal. He couldn't just go full human and ignore instincts. There had to be a compromise. So Dexter compromised. He added a pair of beowolf ears on the top of his head. He hated not being able to hear all around him.

Finally finished with the faunus additions Dexter added on some plates of bone armor to compromise with the soft skin of men rather than the tough hide of a beast. It was arranged almost like light armor. There was a cuirass, gloves of more flexible bone type, and greaves. Simple but effective. Humans probably knew best how to defend their squishy parts so Dexter didn't add any more armor. To cover himself he gave himself a cloak made of beowolf hide, which wasn't much different to make than the fur. Now Dexter was almost done. He had to make a sword.

Somehow Dexter had to make sure the sword was perfect. It was the most important part of the body without question. Attacking and presumably defending would be done with a sword. So Dexter paid laser focus during the creation. It had to be made of bone for sure. It wasn't like there was anything else to make it out of. First the hardest bone was put to the edges of the blade. The edges of the razor. Then more hard bone was put into the base of the sword for strength as well. Next the more flexible bone was used for the rest to varying degrees until it felt right in Dexter's hands. But right wasn't good enough. He had seen the mysterious woman use the blade like it was her arm. It had to be perfect or better. So he played with the blade. He used the different types of bone for all different parts of the weapon. But one thing just wasn't right.

A rapier narrowed down the farther the blade went. This wasn't alright for Dexter. So with some hesitation he widened the tip and narrowed th base until it felt perfect. It didn't get perfect but it was close. Then he fine tuned the blade. When the itch set in for making a new form Dexter didn't even notice he was so focused. He fine tuned the blade so precisely for him that it was better than perfect. But it still felt off… Then he realized the problem.

Rapiers were thrusting weapons. Dexter needed to slash like the woman did. Slashing and biting were what Dexter was experienced in and what he would use to fight… the slashing that is. It reached that state and it finally clicked. This was what he was looking for. The perfect sword for Dexter.

It wasn't a rapier or a longsword or anything. It had to feel right. Natural. The tip was widened… he wouldn't need two sides. It was better to leave one side dull to block and strengthen the blade. It was more a sabre now than a rapier. Or perhaps a machete. It was just right.

With that session settled, a blade and a human form properly made, Dexter laid down on the roof to take a break but he noticed something. It was a second assassin. A woman this time. She also had aura but it was shaking. Something in Dexter helped him identify this as anger. Thank you instincts. There was also grief. Perhaps she was an accomplice of Daniel's? It would explain how she knew the proper form to running silently and her aura. Dexter thought about letting her in to see if Laura would reveal another part of her style that Dexter could practice when he had the time but he decided he would kill this one for the alpha.

He shifted into his properly sized feline form and stalked the assassin. He was right behind her soon. The padded paws really did make Dexter quieter than a whisper. With a quick dash Dexter crunched his aura reinforced jaws down on the assassin's neck. It was oddly satisfying. With the crunch of bone the veins of the woman's neck were severed and her windpipe mangled. There was a spurt of blood in Dexter's mouth and Dexter could taste the blood. He rather liked the metallic taste. What he didn't like was that the woman's aura didn't help her at all. Why didn't it activate? So many questions...

Dexter dragged the woman into the dirt alley, dug a pit, and dumped the body after checking the corpse for anything useful. There were a few knives for throwing and Dexter wondered whether he could make a bow or throwing knives out of bone for his lack of range. He very nearly slammed his head against the wall for being so blind. He realized that turning his body into weapons was incredibly useful and he should have realized sooner that he could do so. For years he had gone without making weapons and only now was he realizing he could have made ranged weapons all this time.

For the rest of the night Dexter practiced that one slash Laura had done with his better than perfect bone blade and did some intense aura channeling exercises once more. Now that he actually had some comparison to use he realized that he was still very very weak. It wasn't just random grimm anymore that Dexter had to fight. Now Dexter had something to be strong for. The alpha. His alpha. Even if she didn't know it... now to keep stalking her.

 **AN: So yeah. That all happened. If you didn't read the details on Laura's soul you really should have. You might be confused otherwise. Now Dexter is trying to learn how to use his pseudo rapier, which is more of a sabre now, and has realized he can make weapons out of his bone. Dexter also made a humanoid form. It makes sense, doesn't it? Dexter is used to being in an animal form with animal senses. Getting rid of those would be crippling. This way he keeps his senses in top shape. We also get a glimpse of how strong Dexter is. He's strong for a grimm but he would get his ass handed to him on a silver platter by anybody of real skill. Finally, the story finally hit M rating. Sorry if you're squeamish about blood but that M is there for a reason. The nudity I don't think is a big deal. I haven't described anything yet anyways.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Next chapter is the last in the string of daily chapters. I've got a schedule for it now. Mondays, wednesdays, fridays, and saturdays are chapter days.**

 **Somebody compared this to Overlord, another fanfic where the protagonist is a grimm. Yeah, my work is like that but I think mine is a bit more quantity over quality than his. In some regards. Also he might have cancelled his fic since as of now it's been about two months of no updates. It would be a sad day if he has. Overlord was one of the fics that inspired me to start writing this fic. I have another fic, remnants of a gamer, that I cancelled since I was way worse at writing back then, and when I cancelled that I had a little bit of a lull deciding if I wanted to really try writing because there were a lot of people who liked that fic for some reason. I think it was because it was in the gamer niche.**

 **I actually started a reboot of that. It's the same concept in a way but more like one of the darker gamer fics without all the whining and angst. I'm really proud of it, actually. I plan on releasing it when I finish the first arc. Anyways, enjoy!**

 **BUT WAIT! Thank you to** **yuyure for pointing out some of the errors I made. This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for. Grammar errors suck and I need to fix them. I made an amendment to some of the stuff he/she pointed out in the last chapter. Sorry for the errors. I write more for myself than others so I sort of just rush along doing my own thing. Going slowly is boring and makes writing a chore, which I don't think writing stories should ever be. Especially since this is fanfiction that I don't get paid for…**

 **Okay now you can read.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 4**

 **The alpha**

The morning came earlier than Dexter would have liked. The aura exercises were coming along nicely and Dexter was working on something special when the first cracks of light appeared. He shifted back into his cat form to avoid being seen and laid down while watching his alpha. She was a mess. The bedsheet that had been torn off the bed was wrapped around he like a robe and she was hugging a pillow. A small smile came onto Dexter's face.

Now that he thought about it Dexter hadn't properly seen what Laura looked like. She had always been in too dim lighting or covered by her brown cloak. She had long fire red hair in a ponytail held together by a band. She was clearly flexible but you could see some muscle on her arms though it was quite compact. Her breasts were slightly smaller than a C but Dexter wasn't quite sure. He was a guy and he wasn't a pervert so he really had no idea. What really drew Dexter's attention was Laura's legs and arms. They were very long, almost disproportionately so. They made Laura pretty tall. Dexter had to say that he had seen nicer women in the streets but Laura was very nice. And her face was so innocent while she slept-wow that sounded creepy.

Come to think of it Dexter was a kind of creepy person. He spent the majority of his time in towns looking at women from the shadows or from their windows. Maybe Dexter should do something other than stalk Laura today. That sounded like a good idea.

It was at that moment that Laura woke up. It was then that Dexter got his first look at Laura's eyes. They were a piercing pale blue that seemed almost ghostly. It was exactly the same as the ethereal light from before. It was a fascinating sight Dexter hadn't realized before now. Laura's eyes were beautiful and dangerous and mysterious. Dexter immediately decided Laura's eyes were the best he would ever see. They were very nice eyes.

Laura stretched and yawned in a motion that was undoubtedly cat-like. She relaxed and stepped off the bed with the sheet wrapped around her and passed through a door that was probably a bathroom. This was confirmed when the hiss of a shower was heard. Dexter half closed his eyes and relaxed in the morning sun until Laura was done. By now some of the early rising people were setting up shop in the street stalls and a few were making food to sell soon.

Laura got out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her lower body only. At this point Dexter just gave up on preserving Laura's modesty and watched her regardless of whether she was nude or not… Damn she looked nice.

Laura wore a white shirt with long sleeves and some dark blue pants under her brown travelling cloak. She took her rapier and throwing knives almost absentmindedly and left with some money in her pocket. Most of her stuff was left in her room so maybe she was staying another night? Or maybe she would come back later for her pack and leave then.

Well, whatever the case Dexter would travel along with her doing as he felt best. In this case it was getting breakfast. Dexter followed Laura at a leisurely pace hopping between buildings. Laura stopped at one of the nicer breakfast stands and bought some sort of omelette. That reminded Dexter that he could have breakfast too. It wasn't as though he needed to eat, being a grimm, but he liked the taste.

Dexter focused on his senses for a moment, memorizing the smell of his alpha. Smell would be better for tracking her down in the crowd that was growing as more people woke up. Dexter hopped into an alley and transformed into his faunus form, clothed of course. Perhaps the breakfast stall where Laura ate? It sounded better than any of the other places. So he walked up to the stand.

The merchant looked up from his cooking and his eyes narrowed. "We don't serve your kind here, animal." He growled.

Dexter blinked. People were racist against faunus? He supposed that would make sense. Faunus were very different from humans so a divide is understandable. However… "My kind? So you don't serve kind people?"

The merchant clenched his teeth and glared at Dexter's bad pun. "Mongrels like you have no place in any civil town. You dirty our homes with your very presence. Now. Get. Out."

Dexter almost asked for clarification just to be a smart ass but he had a better idea. He walked out and circled around back. When the merchant turned aside Dexter, in cat form, hopped into the compartment under the stall and put all the cash in his mouth. He then proudly trotted out and away from the street stall.

Perhaps taking all the money was a little mean but Dexter needed cash, which he forgot when he first approached the stall. Besides, when Dexter imagined the merchant unable to make change for his customers and the frustration he would feel Dexter felt all tingly inside. It was only made better knowing that if the man had served Dexter Dexter wouldn't have been able to pay and would have had to flee from the guards. Racism worked out in Dexter's favor.

The second stall was manned by an ugly man who had the gall to spit at Dexter. Dexter took his cash too and stored it in a pocket of his clothes. Then the third was the same. Finally the fourth stall barely tolerated him and that was only because it was a small diner in which the staff didn't care to move Dexter once he sat down.

It was only when Dexter left the fourth diner with a satisfied look on his face that something caught his attention. "Damned cursed eyes." "And a faunus at that." "His eyes were… not right. Demon eyes... "

So perhaps it wasn't just racism against faunus that made people deny him service. Was it because he was heterochromic? Because one eye was red? It was a question Dexter couldn't answer but dearly wanted to know. At least he was right about the faunus discrimination.

Dexter almost went to follow his alpha but he wasn't some lost puppy. He had a few other ideas on what to do in his free time. Dexter quite liked his clothes. He felt he could pull off the cloak rather well. That didn't mean it couldn't be improved. It was hard to conceal the bone plate armor that Dexter's faunus form had. He needed a few more ideas on what to do to his form so that it was easier to walk around in public.

After a nice walk in random directions Dexter stumbled across a tailor. It seemed rather high end, though. If they kicked Dexter out for being a social outcast he would just rob them.

Inside the store really was quite nice. There were hooks nailed into the red painted walls that held various overcoats and shirts. On the other wall there were travelling cloaks and more practical wear. What was really impressive was the crystal chandelier. It boasted wealth and prestige that was a little intimidating.

The woman behind a counter, who clearly spent a lot of time on makeup, stopped cleaning some travelling wear and looked at Dexter. An irritated look crossed her face for just a moment before a polite smile graced her face.

"Hello… _sir_ " She said in a high pitched and annoying voice. Dexter's right ear twitched in annoyance. The woman had a smug glint in her eye for a moment.

"We aren't serving customers right now so could you please leave?"

Dexter had to admit that that was a more tactful response than the other vendors. It would have worked if the sign out front hadn't said open. Perhaps she assumed Dexter couldn't read. "But ma'am," Dexter said in a polite voice with a smile "The sign says open. I know that a shop of such prestige as yours wouldn't mislabel themselves as such. Especially not a half hour past your assigned opening time."

The woman looked at a clock and acted surprised. "That time already? I hadn't realized!" She sent a calculating look towards Dexter and her eyes moved to his clothes. His cloak specifically. Her eyes widened and sparkled with greed. Someone walked in through the door and the woman let loose a sickly sweet smile.

"I'm sorry sir, but that is one of our finest cloaks. You can't have it for free."

" _What?"_ Dexter thought. He looked behind him to a guardsman blocking the entrance. _"That bitch!"_ Dexter realized.

"Oh?" The woman sent a look of clear superiority in her eyes when she looked to Dexter.

"That cloak is clearly too fine for one such as yourself. Would you please exit this establishment and hand _our_ property back?" With each word the smugness of the woman grew.

Dexter hadn't been paying much attention when he had made his cloak. He had seen Laura's and made his in his image. It was a deep black, not a seam seen on it. The clasp was made in the shape of a beowolf head out of bone. It was quite nice to look at and now that Dexter considered it, It was too nice for most people to buy. If seen by a bystander it probably showed wealth.

It was at this point the guard decided to put in his own two cents. "We don't tolerate shoplifters in Bannickers, kid." Dexter only had one option left.

"And how much does this cloak cost?" As soon as the words left Dexter's mouth the woman seemed to scream _"I won."_

"Nine hundred eighty lien." Dexter collected all the lien he had stolen from the racist shopkeepers. _"Not even four hundred"_ Dexter thought in anger.

A growl escaped Dexter as he counted his money. The guardsman's eyes narrowed and his hand drifted down to his sword hilt. Dexter could hear the small hiss of it unsheathing slightly. The air was thick with tension.

Here Dexter was in a predicament. He couldn't take off the cloak. He was wearing his bone armor and that would raise questions. More than he cared to answer.

With a grit of his teeth Dexter growled in his most intimidating voice "Here." He gave the woman all the money he had. "That is enough I believe." Before the woman could do anything with the money Dexter briskly walked out the door. The guard tried to stop him but Dexter slipped past him. Before the woman could cause a scene Dexter had walked a few blocks away fuming.

It wasn't that he was angry over the loss of the money. Dexter could easily find more racists to rob. It wasn't even the racist motive of the woman that caused him to be upset. It was that he had been put into a proverbial corner and been given no other option but to either give his cloak over or escape. It was humiliating.

The worst part of it was that Dexter couldn't even strike back. He could smash the shop but the woman only worked there. She probably wasn't the owner. It would be an act of pettiness at best. He could rob the woman but it wouldn't even be worth the effort. Dexter could make more faster if he tried and the robbery would only bring him temporary satisfaction.

There was at least one thing Dexter could do. Last night Dexter had finally thought of making weapons from his bones using his ability to shapeshift. He wasn't carrying any weapons so the shop couldn't pull the same con as the woman. It might be a good help on his mood to get ideas on what ranged weapons to make.

Dexter wasn't in the mood to wander around looking for a weapons shop so instead he just stopped some man. "Where can I get a weapon?" The man gave Dexter an irritated and angry look before spitting out "Em's and Ann's. It's twenty houses that way." The man pointed back down the way he came.

"Thanks." Dexter said. The man didn't even hear. He was already gone. Dexter walked down the buildings at a more relaxed pace than before. _"A baker, a tannery, an inn, another inn, ah here we are."_

The building was slightly… burnt looking. As though it had been caught in a fire and most of the wood had been salvaged. It had a chimney spouting smoke and a sign proclaiming 'Emmery and Ann's metalworks'. Of the most interest was a woman in an apron hammering on a lump of red hot metal. She looked busy at work and there were a few weapons laid out somewhat haphazardly on a table nearby. On a different table there were other weapons that seemed worn down or broken. Dexter assumed they were to be repaired.

The woman was so focused on her work that Dexter just walked past her inside the building. The inside was much more organized. Weapons were neatly mounted on pegs nailed throughout the walls. There was armor in the middle of the room on straw mannequins in proud poses.

In the corner there was what could be described only as a working table. It had all manner of vices and small tools on it and a mess of gears that vaguely resembled a bird in the center. Seated at the working table was a skinny young man who was fiddling with the gears to try to make them into… something.

"Uhm, hello?" Dexter tried. The young man didn't even spare him a glance.

"Hey!" Dexter barked. That got a reaction. The young man jumped in his chair and a spring in the gears went flying off somewhere.

"Oh! Um, hi." The young man said awkwardly. He collected himself and spoke with a slightly more charismatic tone. "Hi! I'm Emmery! I work here. You need something?"

"Yes, but I'm not buying. I'd just like to look at the weapons for now. I heard you have some interesting ones." Dexter said eyeing the collection of gears.

"This? Oh! Yes, this is supposed to be attached to a bow, increasing the rigidity of the body. It's supposed to work using a levering system or perhaps some sort of elastic based system but I can't get it compact enough. If you're looking for interesting weapons then I've got a few behind the counter. They're not for sale, though. You can only look since I kind of need them to study… Is that alright?" Emmery asked the last part timidly, clearly expecting a no.

"Sure." Dexter shrugged.

"Really?!" Emmery's eyes shined. He hurriedly leapt up from his chair and kneeled down to look through some weapons that literally were behind the counter.

"Here!" Emmery said with pride. He put down a large weapon that looked like a crossbow and a bomb had a child.

" I call it a bombo! It's supposed to shoot crossbow bolts that explode after a few seconds when they hit a target. Nobody is buying them because the ammunition is expensive and only sold here but also because if you see here the trigger to light the bomb is easily dislodged and I should not tough that because it! Is! Loaded! Ahahah… "

Dexter didn't really have anything to say to that. Emmery apparently took that as an invitation to continue. He left the… Bombo up on the counter and took out a larger weapon that was like a tube connected to complicated machinery. Oddly enough the tube had a plastic blocker in it.

"You see here is another contraption I call a fire launcher. I planned on making it so that pressure builds up behind the cork as flammable gas is pumped by hand to build up and up and up and up the tube and it builds creating said pressure. Then when you remove the cork through this button here it would spit fire!"

Emmery left the fire launcher on the counter and went for a third machine. Dexter had to stop him! And wouldn't removing the cork on that fire thing burn your hand if it was in the wrong place?!

"And here we-"

"Look, Emmery I appreciate the enthusiasm but I was looking to see more… conventional weaponry? Specifically silent ranged weapons."

Instead of the fire in Emmery's eyes dying down even a little bit it increased twofold. "Oooh! I've got like five different ideas for that!"

Emmery pulled out four different contraptions. A sling, a bow with a curve, a cylinder with a small dagger of sorts lodged hilt first in it, and what looked like a crossbow with a magazine.

"Okay! So we've got like five different options here. See, first is what I call a recurve bow. It's just plain better than a longbow all those poor peasants use. It does, however, make more noise than a straight bow but you lose some you win some. Is that how it goes? Ah, who cares."

"Next we have what I should have said first. The sling! Normally these things just plain suck. Maybe you can kill a rabbit or something with one. However! I made mini bombs! You chuck like forty mini bombs into a sling, throw em', and everything should explode beautifully! Don't worry about the sound. All the grimm you throw the bombs at will probably be dead."

"Thirdly! My personal favorite, the shooty knife! It's a blade that, when shot by a coiled spring or, in this case, compressed gas, will really screw people up. I suppose you could just throw a blade but that's what those dagger humpers over at Arnold's armory do. Screw them!"

"Finally! The super crossbow! It's a crossbow but with a magazine. It feeds bolts into the, uh, chamber thing that reloads bolts by gravity normally but I added springs so it shoots faster and jamms less. It's a bit more boring than the others but oh well."

For about a full minute Dexter sat there just trying to process the information Emmery had rapidly spouted. Eventually he just said "Can I see the… Um, the curved bow please?"

"Recurve bow." Emmery said as he handed it to him.

After a moment of inspection Dexter had only one question. "What is this made out of?"

"Oh, right. I had to make the bow laminated with fiberglass on the outside and a carbon foam inside. It's more complicated than it looks, ya know."

"I… I see. Thanks for your enthusiasm." Dexter stumbled out of the shop and the lady, Ann presumably, gave him a pitying glance. She shook her head and returned to making her blessedly simple weapons.

With Dexter's decision to make a recurve bow he straightened himself up and walked tiredly to the outskirts of town. He found a quiet and secluded spot and sat down. Weapons were important. They required attention. Granted, the bow wouldn't be often used but it would still be used sometimes. And when it was used Dexter couldn't afford to have it crap out on him.

Dexter began by layering light less dense bone as a skeleton of a bow. Bone was naturally a little foamy and hard so Dexter used softer bone, like the bone used in nevermoore wings, to make the skeleton. Then he used hard and dense bone for the body. It really wasn't that hard to make most of the bow. It was the string that was the hard part.

For the string Dexter had to weave beowolf fur together as he was making the fur to make a good string. Dexter used a LOT of fur strands to make sure the string wouldn't snap under his strength. In the end the string was quite flexible and not easy to break. His queen didn't skimp on the material when making her children. It would work well enough.

One last weapon, though rather unnecessary, was a dagger. Dexter had enough tools for assassination but was there really any harm in making daggers? It was made in the same fashion as the sabre Dexter made. The sword was so ingrained into Dexter's muscle memory it was a slight challenge to not make it straight off the bat but Dexter managed.

There was only one type of dagger Dexter needed to know how to make as a reflex. The throwing dagger. It was a small, guardless dagger with a nice grip wrapped with leather. They were simple but they were only going to be used for throwing. Using a lot of biomass would be straining on Dexter's aura no matter how fast he regenerates his flesh. The lower quality was what the second knife was for.

The second knife was much sturdier. It had a small guard and the hide aound the handle was very nice. The blade was very dense and sharpened to a razor. There was also a serration at the base of the dagger for anything non-stab related Dexter might use it for. Finally, the guard was granted just a little decoration with a beowolf face like that on Dexter's cloak's brooch. The reason the knife was so nice was that Dexter wasn't going to re absorb it into himself like he does with his sword and clothes. The dagger was going to be hidden in multiple places on Dexter. The inside of his cloak and his thigh in case he needed a spare.

In the tailor's shop Dexter realized it would be a strain for him to make his sword quickly before the guard attacked him if the guard decided to do so. It was a flaw that required correction so dexter would holster two knives on him for when there wasn't time to form a weapon.

Of course, that brought another issue altogether. Dexter had fantastic strength, reflexes, and all the stamina he could need but he hadn't a clue how to use his sabre. A knife he was reasonably sure he could use at least a little bit.

So with these flaws in mind Dexter thought on how to resolve them. Firstly he needed to follow the alpha more. Learning more of the sword style she used would be imperative for using the sword Dexter had made. The knife was rather intuitive. He just needed experience with it for parrying and he would be adequate with it until further notice. Throwing knives would take more work but they would be useful. Luckily using a bow was something Dexter could puzzle out easily enough. Pull string, release arrow. Easy.

After making hidden sheathes on his clothes and modifying them to hide his bone armor Dexter grabbed the bow and absorbed it. Then he made one and repeated the process for a few minutes. When he felt comfortable with making the bow he tried making arrows. Bone shaft, arrowhead, and nevermoore feathers to fletch. Easy stuff!

Dexter tries shooting the bow for hours. Sometimes he would hit the target he wanted and sometimes he wouldn't. By the end of the session hours later Dxter was hitting the target more times than not. Making the arrows was a more reflexive activity too.

After the training Dexter got onto the roof of the inn and saw Laura already in her bed. What had she done all day? Despite his curiosity Dexter knew he would rather make the progress with his training that he did than follow her around all day but that didn't sate his curiosity. What was her power that she used? What was her last name? Why were assassins pursuing her? Why was she traveling? Where was she going? Were there more alpha humans like her?

Dexter did not find the answers he was looking for. During the night he practiced something that had crossed his mind. If he could infuse aura into his claws couldn't he infuse aura into his weapons? He could and he did.

By the end of the night Dexter had practiced channeling aura through weapons with but a thought and making any of his weapons was the same. It was boring but useful.

|-\\\/-|

The morning was once again uneventful. Laura was still waking up nude and wandering around the town doing who knows what. Dexter was getting slightly frustrated with the lack of progress he was making with his alpha. Perhaps Dexter should be following her when she was actually active and doing something but his alpha would have smelled of blood or sweat or anything of interest if she was training or fighting. She only ever smelt of wood, dirt, people, and faintly of silk and perfume. She surely wasn't going to stay in the town until she HAS to leave, right?

Whatever his alpha was doing Dexter was improving. Hopefully his alpha would unknowingly provide him with something interesting to practice of his own or perhaps Dexter would just 'accidentally' bump into her in faunus form.

Rather than waste time on food he didn't need Dexter went straight to practicing. Forming and re-absorbing his various weapons was mind numbing yet useful. Muscle memory simply couldn't be substituted. The aura available to Dexter was enough that Dexter could form his bone weapons for days on end and still be half full so it wasn't even a struggle to make the weapons.

After that came target practice. Shooting the bow or throwing a knife at high speeds, roughly one arrow or knife every half second standing in place. Then one arrow every two seconds while using evasive tactics. Longer range practice would be necessary soon but for the moment using the bow at mid range would be enough. The town wasn't big enough to practice long range. Not to mention finding a proper ground for training it.

Dexter wished wholeheartedly that he could practice with his sword or knives but the effort would be more detrimental than not. Training with the sword at first had been to familiarize himself with his sword than learn the strike Laura used. Training with melee weapons was difficult to do if you didn't have a sparring partner or know what sort of strikes you were to use in Dexter's opinion.

The day of training was boring and unfruitful. Hours had been dedicated to something which was, while useful, easily done while doing anything else of use. Following his alpha was sounding appealing now that there was little to train. Perhaps he could observe the difference in treatment between faunus and humans from a more well understood perspective such as Laura's. It was frustrating for Dexter that he would either have to leave for greener pastures or make contact with his alpha artificially to get more advanced training though. Wandering could be interesting if he didn't use his nevermoore form. None of the options appealed much to Dexter in the first place.

It was with this knowledge that Dexter slinked back to the rooftop by Laura's room hours before she normally seemed to get back. Dexter curled up for a quick nap in the meantime.

Dexter had barely closed his eyes when he felt himself move upwards by the scruff of his neck. His eyes slammed open in full alert right into a victorious grin and ghostly blue eyes.

"Got youuuu" Laura sung softly. This can't be good.

 **Omake: Weapons of the apocalypse**

"And this is what some people call a bomb. Oh, I accidentally armed it. Was it the red wire or the green wire? Um… pull both I suppose."

"And this is what I call smiley. I know he looks like a shovel with a smiley face on it but trust me. I killed a whole cult with this baby."

"This is muramasa. It won't get sheathed unless I feed it a soul. Now get back in your sheath… Oh right. Say, you have a soul, don't you?"

"And this is the stick of truth! I swear you can control the universe with it. Guaranteed."

"This is called a BFG. My wife made the name but I don't know what it stands for. I've never actually tried it before. Stand still for a moment."

"And this is called a xenomorph. A baby one, specifically called a facehugger. Oh look! It's coming out of its egg!… Why do you look so scared?"

"And this is Claptrap! He's more of a weapon against your sanity than body. Please take him. I can't kill him and he's so annoying." "Hiya!"

"Do dogs thrown at high velocity count as weapons?" A man in a green outfit with a coffee cup appeared. "Yes. Tried and proven."

"Just about everything can be fixed by extreme violence. That's why chainsaws were made, right?!"

"Everything is a weapon with enough creativity! Or guns! So I duct taped fifty light machine guns to a goliath!"

"BEHOLD MY PIT OF LASER SHARKS!"

"Nobody expects a broken bottle! … No? Not your type? Fine. Don't blame me when you get shanked in an alley without a broken bottle of your own."

 **AN: Some of you might be thinking Dexter is focusing on too many things at one or that he's becoming a walking armory. You would be wrong. Dexter has only a few weapons. A sabre, knife, throwing knife, and bow. I suppose his feline and beowolf forms might be considered weapons but I don't think so. If you look at a character like Ruby you'll see she had a few different weapons. Her scythe blade, the barrel of her scythe, and that third form she almost never uses for sniping. That's not a whole lot of versatility. This is why she has her team and even then they have to be good at more than one thing generally. Blake can deal a lot of damage and avoid more. Yang does the same and takes enemy attentions. Weiss is definitely one of the most versatile characters in the team and often helps combo with others. On their own they fight okay but together they're much better. Dexter doesn't have a teammate to make up for his faults but he does have his ability to change form and by extension make weapons. This is literally the only benefit he has other than aura, and his aura doesn't even shield him if you remember. It only heals him. He has to be his own team and so he has to focus on his on talent more than anything. So he has to have a wide variety of weapons to use as well as his other forms.**

 **Next, you might be wondering why Dexter isn't mentioning the itch that accompanies the creation of new forms. Well, that would be overstimulation. In the wild with nothing to really attract Dexter's attention he could only focus on the itch but now there are more attracting things to grab Dexter's attention than an itching. Oh, and the weapons don't cause the itch because they seperate from Dexter's body. Dexter's aura regenerates any lost biomass from the weapon making. Healing factor and all.**

 **Next chapter is an interlude and the last of the daily chapters. I'll put out four chapters a week on monday, wednesday, and friday, and saturday.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: And here is the last chapter in my little string of daily chapters. Enjoy!**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 5**

 **The lonely**

Laura Frost needed a friend. It was a fact she was painfully aware of. Ever since she had gotten her powers of a maiden all those years ago she had been mostly alone. There had been three travelling companions she had ever had.

The first had been killed by common bandits. Her name was Fira. Laura only then seriously began training her body, weapons, and powers. Fira was a shy girl and Laura's cousin. She had found out about Laura being a maiden by accident and convinced Laura to let her travel with her to escape her arranged marriage.

The second had been killed by the first wave of assassins to pursue Laura. His name was Drikamanda but Laura always called him Drip for when he had pissed his pants after first seeing Laura take care of bandits on the road. Drip was a right bastard and a good boy. He had never grown to become a man physically or emotionally. Drip always boasted how he was going to get Laura to fall for him, the so-called main character.

The third and last had been killed by Laura. She always called herself Cathy, nicknamed Cat, but it was a fake name. Laura never found the real one. Laura had killed Cat by reflex. It had been several years after travelling with Laura that Cat had learned she was a maiden. Cat had decided the supposed wealth and power everyone assumed a maiden had were more valuable than friendship. She tried to kill Laura in the middle of the night with a slashed throat. She should have known that Laura always killed the assassins first.

It had been a few years since Cat had died and Laura was nearing her twenty fifth year of age. Birthdays weren't a big deal for Laura. She normally got plastered in the woods and let loose with her maiden powers on some poor innocent trees. It was fun to pretend she was some sort of angry goddess. It was less fun years ago when she broke down into tears halfway through her fun.

All in all Laura would say her life was pretty shitty but there were worse ones. She never had to worry about money, she had basically superpowers, and she got to see loads of interesting places and people. The light in her life shined away the dark if you squinted just right, which Laura did. All the time.

Anyways, Laura's twenty fifth birthday. Most maidens don't make it past twenty five years of age. Maidens start young, about eight or so normally. Laura had been a maiden for as long as she could remember. It had almost always sucked. So, if she lived past twenty five or, dare she jinx it, thirty when she'll practically be an old granny, she would have something to boast about.

It was for this reason that she was in a really nice town compared to the dirty huts and villages she normally visited. It was a place called Bannickers. Lovely place, really. The town was vibrant. A far cry from a dirty village that hides from taxes in a forest. Or desert. Or that one that was literally built on a cliff. Come to think of it, Laura was very glad her status as a nomad made her exempt from taxes. Lucky her.

Everywhere in Bannickers was something. A shoe store, a street salesman, a homeless guy cooking rats (ew), or a cobbler knocking on shoes. Everywhere Laura looked there was a person. It was an alien feeling to be around so many people and simply being ignored. She really needed to visit these sorts of towns more often. It wasn't a good sign to be unused to all the business of the popular towns. At this rate she would be comatose just at the borders of Vale.

For a few hours after booking a room at a tavern for several days Laura strode through the streets just soaking up the fact that she was showered, healthy, and had any food or good at her fingertips.

During her walk she fell across a fat man kicked back on a chair with a cat in his lap. It looked almost like a painting. Everything around the two was peaceful. Most of all, though, the two looked like they belonged right where they were. Then she thought " _I wish I had a pet like that."_ She thought. _"A friend."_ Tears stung Laura's eyes and she wiped them on her sleeve. A little travelling dirt got into her mouth and eyes but it was better to focus on the physical pain than the emotional ones.

Feeling she had to repay the two for such a beautiful scene Laura walked up to the stand and grabbed a pastry of some sort. She tossed down some money, not paying attention to how much.

Walking a while after finishing the pastry Laura decided what she really wanted was some alcohol. "Excuse me," She asked a stranger "Where's a good inn I can stay at?"

The stranger seemed surprised she was talking to him. "Uhm, the, uh, the lion's heart miss. It's only two blocks there…." The stranger seemed to consider Laura for a moment. "Say, uh, you wouldn't care to-"

"No." Laura said flatly. Several people around her winced in sympathy. "Damn…" one mumbled. It wasn't that Laura disliked the man. She appreciated his directions but didn't want to give him any hope.

Ignoring the somewhat sullen looking man behind her Laura approached the lion's heart inn. It really was a nice place. The bar room was well lit and cozy with a fireplace in the middle surrounded by couches. Outside of that in a ring around the walls were some tables. _"Perfect_." Laura thought.

It was nice and cool in the shadows. Laura leaned back a little and ordered an ale. She normally had bourbon or gin but she wasn't in the mood.

Laura wasted no time downing the drink. Then another. She was working on her third when one boy came up to her table. "Hi. My name's Daniel. You are?"

" _Oh not this again."_ The boy approaching her table was dressed in plain clothes with a maroon theme going on. Internally Laura groaned at his smile. It was the practiced and charismatic smile assassins wore. Assassins or politicians that is. And this boy no older than twenty was not a politician for sure.

"Laura."

"Laura, huh? I was wondering if you'd like to come over to the fire and chat with my friends and I. It's lonely to drink by yourself and we'd love to have the company of a beautiful woman such as yourself."

Laura could feel something in her bubble up, whispering something to her, but she pushed it down.

"I appreciate the gesture but I'll have to say no. I wouldn't want to intrude."

Something glinted in 'Daniel's' eyes but before giving him the opportunity Laura cut him off before he could capitalize on whatever opening he saw.

"I realize you wouldn't mind the company of myself but I would prefer not to ruin the mood of your party."

At this point some other people were giving their conversation a side-long look. A few looked like they might try to get Laura to go with them but Laura glared and they backed off. An intoxicated and angry woman was not somebody to mess with.

At this point Daniel's irritatingly charismatic smile dimmed. "If you feel lonely and care to join we'll be there." Laura barely withheld a snort at that. _As if._

Laura relaxed a little more and enjoyed her ale as much as she could. Sadly as much as she wanted to just leave it she had one chore to do before the night was done. Laura got up and walked to the bartender.

"Excuse me?"

The bartender glanced up, finished his glass, and stopped for a moment. "Yes?"

"Is that boy a local or is he just passing through?"

The sides of the bartender's mouth twitched upward _s_. _"He's in on it. Bribed to encourage me to go with him or looking for a share of the bounty?"_

"Oh, Daniel you mean? He's apparently with a caravan though I'm pretty sure he was only travelling with em'. If you care to see him he should be coming back to his room soon. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you company no matter the time of night."

Of course. Of course that prick would bribe the bartender to put in a good word for him. It helped make the assassins seem like they were innocent boys or girls that wanted into Laura's bed and not her heart. Her physical heart, that is. Preferably on their dagger or scythe or hatchet or what have you.

With a sigh Laura tossed a few coins onto the table. She made sure they were the outdated copper coins that nobody used anymore. The bastard was already taking the assassin's pay. That or he was just trying to hook Laura up. Either way he deserved **nothing.**

Laura went to her room, stripped, and went to bed as soon as she comfortably could.

As expected an assassin came for her that night. Laura didn't care to get up as soon as she heard him close the window so she just readied herself to strike out at him. Or her but probably him.

The moment she was ready Laura flew out of bed and slashed out, eyes wide open. The moment was so practiced that Laura could do it in her sleep. As she was doing right now.

Twirling through the slash Laura's hand darted out at the assassin's throat. Yep. It was 'Daniel'. Before her hand even touched him that little feeling in her soul was whirring familiarly and she disintegrated Daniel's corpse. Inn's didn't take well to dead bodies so Laura got rid of them.

With the assassin dead and gone, just another night as a maiden, Laura fell back into her bed. Before she passed out, however, her eyes caught something odd. Two faintly glowing eyes, one red and one a light indigo staring at her eerily. They didn't have a visible body. Laura's instincts screamed at her to get up and kill whatever it was or do anything to kill whatever monster was following her but it was too late her brain was already putting her to sleep once more.

|-\\\/-|

The next morning Laura rolled out of bed as she always did. She stumbled to the bathroom with a terrible headache. Oh, right. Daniel the dick chatted her up a bit. Then he snuck into her room, sword in hand -why did he use a sword? Daggers work well for assassins.- Then she killed him. And she fell into bed and saw - OH FUCK THE DEMON EYES!

Out of the fright the eyes brought Laura jumped up, aura enhanced unfortunately, and her head crashed into the ceiling. She lost all balance and fell onto her shoulder. She very nearly cried out but she scrambled onto her feet and looked wide-eyed to the doorway. Laura calmed herself for a moment. " _It watched me sleep. It's not going to kill me if it saw me at my most vulnerable and did nothing."_ Rationalized Laura. That conclusion helped… slightly.

Hesitatingly Laura started and took her shower. The cold water woke her up more than the adrenaline from before. It also numbed the bruise on her head. Jumping into the air like a scared cat was not an effective combat reaction in the least.

Laura finished her shower and wrapped herself but she hesitated before leaving the bathroom. What if the creature was waiting in her room? With this in mind Laura got onto a knee and peered through the door's lock.

There was her bed, the door, her bag. But then she looked up. There were wooden beams in a lattice above her room and the walls didn't go all the way up. The creature could have been hiding up there and Laura wouldn't have realized. A chill crept up Laura's spine at that realization. Maybe the creature didn't use the beams on the second floor but it was the potential that disturbed Laura.

With the room somewhat clear there was really no delaying it. Laura composed herself and strode out with every sense straining itself for her stalker if it was still around. Laura clothed herself in some of her nicer clothes and grabbed her weapons. She walked out a bit quicker than usual. Wait, wasn't she leaving today? Ah, screw it. She wasn't going back to her room with that creature about to ambush her or kill townspeople.

It was upon leaving that Laura caught a glimpse of the creature again. It was a black blur on the roof to her left. It was damn near unseeable. No wonder nobody else saw it. Laura only just barely noticed it with her already highly trained senses pushed to the absolute limit.

Walking down the road in some direction Laura kept an eye on the creature at all times possible. She only caught it when it was forced to jump to an adjacent rooftop or the one time it's eyes glinted eerily. Was it just Laura or had she seen a scary amount of intelligence and… Interest? Laura had clenched her right hand so hard it bled underneath her cloak. There was a feeling about the creature that had all of Laura's instincts on fight or flight. It was not a good feeling and while Laura was sure she could annihilate small towns on her own she did not want to tangle with the creature.

Laura bought a pastry just to look normal and the creature sniffed the air. It seemed to grin for a moment, teeth showing, and it crept away. Laura wolfed down her… Omelette? Oh, so that's what she bought, and dashed towards where the creature was.

Coming to the base of the building Laura stilled for a moment. She turned right and stared for a moment at a faunus with his hood down. He was a wolf faunus of some sort but something seemed more vicious about him. He had a rich midnight black cloak and pale skin. His hair was dark and long to his upper neck with bangs touching his eyebrows. It looked very fluffy.

Torn between the cloaked faunus and the creature Laura made a split second decision to follow the faunus. She had lost her line of sight with the creature and she would be hard pressed to track it with how stealthy it had seemed.

The faunus crossed the street for the same stall Laura stopped at. The merchant narrowed his eyes and said "We don't serve your kind here, animal."

Laura frowned at this and listened closely. "My kind? So you don't serve kind people?"

Laura snorted. Kind? That dangerous aura of yours says otherwise, pal. She had to hand it to him with that response, though. It brought the smallest of smiles to her face.

The merchant clenched his teeth and glared. "Mongrels like you have no place in any civil town. You dirty our homes with your very presence. Now. Get. Out."

The stranger looked as if to say something but stopped. He turned around and Laura tried her hardest to blend in. He walked directly around the shop and Laura followed him. But then something unnatural happened.

There was a small crackle and the clothes seemed to melt into the stranger's skin. He crouched down on all fours and shrunk. Laura's eyes widened as she beheld a black cat. She clasped a hand to prevent her from gasping.

Laura supposed the man had a semblance to allow shapeshifting to some degree. Those were, however, rare. Rare and powerful. Or perhaps it was something else. It wouldn't be a surprise really. Most shapeshifting semblances were something along the lines of making an arm rubber or swelling your muscles to become more powerful.

Laura peered at the cat as he crept up on the merchant and… Stole his cash. Laura retreated for a moment and leaned against an alley wall. She almost laughed but suppressed it to a giggle. Something about the scary faunus guy inconveniencing the merchant just struck her as funny. With all the stress from the new town, scary demon stalker, and the suspicious faunus and then he does what could be considered a prank on a shopkeeper just made Laura laugh a little. She was stressed out and needed a good laugh.

With her laugh settled Laura went out to see the faunus in the street. Seven more times Laura saw him rob racists and each time she felt happy the asshats got what they deserve. The cash wasn't much. Some leftover cash from one merchant only to be used for spare change to break up big bills. Added up Laura supposed he made quite a bit but nothing spectacular considering he would be arrested if he were caught.

Finally the faunus seemed to give up on getting food and wandered the streets. He stopped at a few nice places but moved on. Then he stopped at a clothing store.

Laura watched as he was denied service. Then the annoying woman behind the counter wore a sickly smile and said "I'm sorry sir, but that is one of our finest cloaks. You can't have it for free."

" _What?"_ Laura thought. Then she peeked out of her hiding spot to see a guardsman blocking the entrance. _"That bitch!"_ Laura realized.

It was, sadly, a common con. A well reputed shop accuses someone with something nice of stealing. The guards see this and take the item. Then they "return" the item to the shop. The shop gets out with no loss and the victim is discredited due to the reputation of the shop.

Laura could only watch angrily as the poor faunus was robbed of all his money. She was surprised when he shoves some money into the shopkeeper's hand and fled but the shopkeeper seemed happy with her gains enough to let him go. She wasn't totally heartless it seems. Just a bitch.

Laura, rather pissed, strolled into the tailor's shop angrily. The shopkeeper, caught putting away most of her ill gotten gains, smiled at her and opened her mouth to greet her. Before a sound got out Laura snatched the money from her hands and slapped her. Hard. She then walked out of the shop, leaving a confused shopkeeper in her wake.

Laura tracked down the faunus at a weapons shop after a few questions from street people. He was leaving with a disoriented expression on his face. Laura was sad that she had missed something interesting.

Laura thought for a moment at all the places the faunus had stopped at. A weapon's shop, a tailor's, and he had robbed several men who had rather deserved it. Perhaps he was looking to become a huntsman? If he wasn't already. The tailor for light armor, the weapon shop to get a weapon, and he had been enacting some form of justice even if it was through robbery. It was possible he was becoming a criminal but he just didn't seem to be the type. If he wanted money he would rob the richer shops. Huntsmen regularly wore light armor and acted independently of the law.

Pushing aside the idle thoughts Laura stopped with the faunus in an isolated park. She would be surprised if anybody visited him there. And yet again the faunus did something queer. He sat down and put his hands in front of him. Laura's eyes widened as a curved rod of bone came into being. Over the course of about ten minutes the rod pulsed, as though unstable, and it grew into a more complex shape. Laura could recognize it as a rather nice recurve bow. Then he did it again with some rather crappy looking throwing knives. They were sharp at least. Then once more with a wicked looking combat knife. Laura felt a little jealous at the knife. It was really nice.

The man disintegrated his weapons and, to Laura's confusion, started reforming and disintegrating his weapons. It occurred to her that he was reforming his weapons slightly faster each time and made flaws less frequently the more he practiced. Laura supposed iit was practice for what was possibly his semblance. That would make his cat-like form magic then. Was it?

Laura had been following the man for most of the day but she hadn't seen his face. As he began a rather mundane archery practice session Laura crept around to his far right and looked at his face. It was, Laura had to admit, handsome. All of that was inconsequential in the face of his eyes. That _wrong_ red and pale indigo. They were the unnatural kind Laura had seen before. Then this man had been stalking her?

A shiver ran up Laura's spine _again_ at the thought of her stalker. This clearly dangerous man who her instincts were yelling was the devil himself was following Laura.

Without thinking of it too much Laura slipped away with her mind and body tired from all she had done today. She retired to her bed early and rigged up several traps. Strings criss-crossing the space above her in a sort of spider's web in case anybody dropped in on her. More string traps on the window and door just in case.

With these Laura felt somewhat safer and fell asleep. There were no eyes watching her at the moment. She checked. Oh! Wait! There they are. It was just light enough that, if Laura strained her eyes, she could see the creature. It was a large cat, like a jaguar of sorts, but sleeker and looking far more deadly. It was muscled well and it's fur was a deep oily black. Every bit of it seemed suited for stealth and only it's eyes had any color at all. Even so they were dimmed from what Laura had seen on it as a man. Even with it watching her Laura slipped off to sleep, trusting her numerous traps and the passiveness the man had shown so far to keep her safe.

|-\\\/-|

Laura woke once more but something was off. It was morning. Nothing had triggered her traps. She played along and took her shower, mind whirring. The man had been passive so far. Perhaps he meant well? He hadn't done anything explicitly bad so far. Even when he could have killed the bitchy shopkeeper who conned him he didn't and it certainly wasn't because of the guard. The man was dangerous for sure. Her instincts weren't wrong. Often.

It was with this in mind that Laura started the day the same as before. She got her breakfast and waited for the man to slip off. She followed him to the same area where he had trained the day before and was irritated at some of the steps he did wrong in his archery technique. He was getting better at least and he was paying attention to what he was doing which was enough to placate Laura. She got bored after about two hours of his practice and slipped away again.

It was at this point that Laura decided she needed to do something about the man. He would either stalk her indefinitely and unnerve her or he would try to kill her. Maybe he would meet with her but Laura doubted it. He had gone this far without doing so. He might but he probably won't. With that in mind Laura came up with a plot to figure out what the hell the man was doing around her.

That night, after a day of doing nothing but chores and messing around Laura was hiding on the rooftop the man was normally on. She waited excitedly for a good hour before the man came back. In cat form of course. Rather than the fierce predator Laura had seen before he was in his more mundane cat form. Travel size predator. Laura saw him see nothing in her room and she prepared to dash for him. Luckily for her he curled up to take a nap.

Laura had planned to knock the man out or , if he was in his predatory form, wrap him in sheets and put him at swordpoint, but this was even better. He was asleep and in his weakest form. The poor fool has no idea.

Laura took two stealthy strides towards the sleeping kitten and snatched him up by the scruff of his neck. She faced him towards herself and saw his eyes wide, like a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Laura just couldn't resist rubbing it in a little that she caught him. So she did it.

"Got Youuu" She sung, looking into his eyes with a smirk on her face and by dust she _deserved it_. Then the household cat punched her in the face.

 **AN: Done and done. Now excuse me but I have a history presentation due tomorrow. Or maybe later but we're drawing lots as to who goes first and I'm not taking my chances. Goodbye now. Oh, and I'm not giving out a chapter tomorrow as the schedule would demand because you've already gotten one tonight. Unless something crazy happens like I get to a hundred favorites or something. Then I'll happily write some more.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: So I may have encouraged you guys a little too much around the correcting me thing. If it's something that makes the paragraph illegible then absolutely tell me and I'll clear it up but if it's something like a little formatting issue there's no need to tell me. Thank you for telling me really but every little thing doesn't need to be perfect. I give a new chapter when I'm happy with it. A little grammatical issue won't concern me enough to edit the chapter again.**

 **There's a little bit of Laura's POV leaking through in a few places. Call it third person omniscient or something. It makes the story flow better so I'm keeping it.**

 **This is the start of the more fun chapters too by the way. More world building and fun times and a bit less drama character introducing. It all started when a cat punched a magical girl in the face.**

 **Grimm souls chapter 6**

 **The meeting**

Dexter didn't have time to think through his new situation. He did whatever he could with one goal. Escape.

With his harmless kitty paws Dexter bravely punched the hell out of his alpha's face. Then he realized something. His punches weren't making any sound. At that he paused for a second and paid attention to what he was doing.

Laura's face was being smushed around like jell-o and Dexter's paws were placed on her cheeks. He forgot he made his paws fluffy to silence them. Stealth and all. Laura had the most unamused look Dexter had ever seen. It was an impressive look to pull off with her cheeks all… What was it he had said? Smushed? That described them perfectly.

Laura's free hand pushed aside his cat paws from her face and just stared disapprovingly at him. Just then Dexter had what seemed like a good idea. He placed his paws on her face again and just moved them around a lot to annoy her. With a snarl she batted them aside.

At this point Dexter was just about out of ideas. But… would that work? Hopefully. Dexter tried shifting into his larger cat form, still being held. He felt his bones and flesh remodeling itself to his familiar form. His body grew, teeth sharpened and lengthened, fur grew more ragged and feral. Best of all was the shocked face Laura had. With his now muscled forearms Dexter's paw darted out forcefully and smashed into Laura's nose. Cat jab, you sneaky human.

With a cry Laura stumbled backwards, one hand reaching for her weapon and the other clutching her throwing knifes. Dexter was having none of that. He leapt off of the roof but unfortunately he went through Laura's window. Dexter could feel plenty of wires snapping, making a ruckus of noise. Bottles fell, cans clanged, an arrow whizzed past him into the street below, and Dexter swore a stray cat screamed outside.

In his panic Dexter did what cats did best when scared. He jumped like five feet into the air. Then MORE tripwires were triggered. Boards on the wall tore loose, a bucket of something fell from a now broken pulley, and one nasty crossbow bolt scraped over his skin, leaving a gash on him.

Dexter flailed through the web of traps to the wall and dug his claws into the wood in desperation. He found purchase and climbed the wall in leaps and bounds. He made it to some support beams and hid in the darkest shadow he could. He then calmed his heartbeat and listened.

"Holy hell! Someone getting murdered?!"

"What in the brother's name was that?"

"I TOLD you those two were going at it!"

"My leg!"

Distinct from that prattle were the pounding footsteps of Laura up the tavern stairs. She slammed open the already completely screwed up door, breaking off the second of the third hinge in the process, and beheld the impressive destruction that was completely her fault. Serves her right for turning her sleeping quarters into a **goddamn killzone!**

Dexter wasn't angry with his alpha. He was… irate. Of course she would trap her room when she was asleep but leaving a warzone worth of traps in her room for any hapless intruder to stumble upon? Absurd! What if he needed to break in?

This reasoning was quickly forgotten as Laura hefted her pack, stuffed any scattered clothes or weapons in it and jumped out the window-what? She just hopped out.

Dexter hopped out after her onto the rooftops an stalked her a bit as he had done so much before. Laura jogged out of the city and Dexter followed.

Laura jogged for quite a while. After what might have been an hour or so she slowed and stopped, breathing lightly. Dexter was probably going to regret doing this but staying in the shadows was not an option anymore. Not only would it not work but it would only further distance him from his alpha.

Dexter shifted to his faunus form and hopped down. Laura didn't hear him until he hit the ground. She whirled around with her rapier drawn and pointed at Dexter, her breathing stilled.

"What do you want?" She snarled

"I…" Dexter hesitated here. There was no good way to handle this but he may as well just throw it out there. It wasn't like he'd done anything wrong… besides stalking a girl… and stealing a load of money… and being mankind's worst- you know what she doesn't need to know about the grimm and stealing bit.

"I want to learn from you. You know how to use a sword better than I and that's something I desire to learn."

His alpha peered closely at him, as though judging his worth. It was very uncomfortable and Dexter tried not to fidget. Nothing had ever looked at him so closely before.

"Why were you stalking me?"

"I'm socially awkward." Dexter blurted out

 _What?! No! It's because she's scarier than a dragon and her soul is… Yeah, you know what? I'm socially awkward now. End of story._

"Bullshit."

 _Oh thank the brothers_

"Fine. You caught me. I'm not socially incompetent. I'm a grimm in faunus form who wants to learn how to kill better. Rawr."

Laura looked at him for a moment. She sighed and her rapier lowered a little.

"Look, do want to harm me or exploit me or something?"

"No."

"Fine. We're travelling together. Hip hip hooray. Go get some firewood and perhaps some game. You've done enough trouble to at least make camp."

Dexter let a small smile come to his face and he walked into the forest to gather wood and meat… Hunting deer or rabbits would be a fun test of his archery skills. Hm, maybe he should treat this as an exercise.

|-\\\/-|

Laura wasn't quite sure what her companion, whatever his name was, wanted, but she didn't think it would be too harmful. He had plenty of chances to attack her but he hadn't so he probably wasn't an assassin. He probably wasn't a military man. Military men, even the best of their infiltrators, weren't smartasses like he was.

Maybe, Laura dared to hope, he genuinely wanted to learn her style of swordsmanship? A pupil would be nice. Someone to handle all those pesky chores and Laura could spar with someone, have company, and pass down her knowledge. It was an appealing idea.

There was the concern of his abilities, however. He could turn into a cat of various sizes and form weapons out of bone. Nobody Laura knew of had ever had two semblances and she would likely have heard if there was such a person. That made it likely that he was one of those rumored warriors who could change form. She'd only ever heard of them changing into birds, though. Hm. That made it likely that his bone manipulation was his semblance. Or perhaps his semblance was something along the lines of body manipulation to an insane degree of training? Laura was skeptical.

Wherever her companion's powers originate he seemingly wasn't a threat but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on him for a while.

Hearing the crunch of leaves her companion came into the clearing with an armful of dry branches. He left to get more wood or meat without a word.

Laura grabbed her pack and leaned back. Plenty of rations, her weapon maintenance kit, her survival gear, a now somewhat lighter trap kit, a few maps in a cylinder, some clothes, and some other miscellaneous tools.

Looking up at the sky Laura doubted it was going to rain tonight. It was dark and overcast. All the light would be gone within an hour. With a frown she decided if her companion didn't return soon she wouldn't go out to look for him. For the moment, however, there were chores to do.

Getting up with a groan Laura stood up from her comfortable spot on the ground and set up the fire. With a glance around she tapped into her maiden powers a little bit and made a strong gust of wind move the leaves out of her camp. She set up the sticks with a space in the middle for air and put some leaves in the middle. She cheated a bit more and lit the fire with magic. Truly what powerful and mysterious magic was meant to do.

Laura was about to lay down once more when her prospective apprentice walked in. Good brothers his footsteps were damn near silent. It was eerie.

Her companion was holding a rabbit with an arrow through its neck, the head half on the body in a rather grisly scene. In his other arm was some more wood. Laura grabbed the rabbit and pulled a knife and pan out of her pack. She gutted the rabbit without a word, emptied out the viscera, and seperated the pelt from the meat with a practiced hand.

She put the meat and bone onto the pan and the pan into the fire and dug a small hole with her hands. She buried the viscera and pelt. She didn't have any methods to treat the hide so, while it was a shame, she buried the pelt rather than leave it out. She never did like treating pelts anyways.

The meat on the fire was sizzling beautifully. The smell was euphoric and the meat was turning golden brown. Laura didn't often use salt but for this she would. The rabbit was quite fat. Even for the summer the continent was enjoying the rabbit was particularly fat. Laura sprinkled the salt over the rabbit and left it for a moment. In the meantime she grabbed two straightish sticks and started on narrowing the points with her knife.

"So what's your name, anyways?"

"It's Dexter. Your name is Laura, right?"

"Um, yes." _Creepy. He stalked me long enough to know my name._

"Sorry about the stalking. It wasn't my first choice of how to meet you but you seemed to have enjoyed the thrill of it."

The paranoia at night? The fright intense enough to make her jump? Oh, the end. She had been VERY smug and proud when she caught him. That had been fun.

"Not as much as you seem to think. The end was nice. Then again, overcoming obstacles is… its own form or reward. I'd have preferred it if you hadn't stalked me at all."

By this point the rabbit was done. Laura set the pan down with her cloak keeping her hand from burning. She seperated the legs from the body and handed one to Dexter. She bit into the leg blissfully. She had gotten the legs cooked well.

"Well, I am sorry about that. Really. It would have been far more pleasant of a first impression if I hadn't observed you."

Laura finished chewing with a thought. She did have one question for Dexter before they slept. "Well, it's alright. On that last day I followed you anyways."Dexter's eyes widened just a little bit. He put them back to his typical lazy half closed look a moment later. "How exactly can you both shapeshift and make weapons of your bone? People only have one semblance."

Dexter looked irritated and looked at Laura seriously.

"The same way you can incinerate a man in moments."

Laura stilled at that. Did she think he hadn't seen that? Of course he saw that! How could he not? He was right outside the window that first time! She looked at Dexter with a blank expression and sighed.

"Fine. This could go two ways. We both reveal everything here and now or we both agree to not talk about our secrets. Personally… I'd prefer number two but we should probably just put our cards on the table."

Dexter looked at Laura with a strange expression on his face. It was as though Laura had done something exceptionally odd in his eyes. Perhaps she had. It was rare to be so blunt about so sensitive a topic as secrets. Especially with someone you can't fully trust.

Dexter stared for a moment more before looking down and speaking.

"I've spent a lot of time alone. I tried hard to go and meet other people but it was always too dangerous to do so. I'm able to manipulate my body in plenty of fashions. I don't know how or why but I know I'm very different from most people. For example…"

Dexter reached for Laura's knife before grabbing it. Laura watched in interest as he drew it across his arm. His aura didn't stop it as it drew a line across his flesh. Moments after the wound was opened the mark would close itself. Soon after even the scar would be gone. Dexter handed Laura her knife back which she immediately put into her pack.

"Your aura doesn't protect you." Laura spoke in awe. What a horrible curse. To not have your soul protect you. That was a scary concept to Laura. People's auras always protected them. Even monsters of men would have their aura stand by them. Perhaps it isn't able to leave them but to not have the one commonality that separates man from monster. To not belong to either side but alone both in physicality and to their very soul… Laura paled as she realized he wouldn't be thrown out of settlements. He would be branded a monster on par with a grimm should someone find out. Religions call the soul sacred and vilify those without them. Mostly the grimm but that still applies to Dexter.

Dexter nodded glumly. "I prefer to take the form of a cat or a beowolf. I don't get attacked when I look like them. But… beowolves attack creatures with souls. If they don't attack me that just makes me think… What do I have? What's inside me? I spent a lot of time as a beowolf. I got used to it."

Laura had nothing to say to that. To have a semblance with no aura. To not have a soul, form, or people to belong to. Even she could take refuge with friends every once and awhile. She felt that she belonged with a people. For once she was grateful that she had a place among her own people.

"I can do things nobody else can." Laura started. "I can use fire, wind, ice, and probably other elements if I care to. I don't. Ever since I was young I've been hunted like some sort of prized stag. I've had friends but most of them have either died or betrayed me in one particularly nasty case."

Dexter looked grim at the mention of a betrayal. He nodded to continue on.

"I learned to be strong to live. It was unpleasant but I had things others didn't. Power, money, and a few allies. I like my life. It's been harsh recently but it could be worse."

Dexter smiled somewhat and stared at the fire. Laura couldn't help but notice how his eyes seemed to glow. The red reflected an ominous glow like the eyes of a grimm but dimmer with a pupil. The violet eye seemed nearly normal. Somehow that made it seem suspicious.

Laura sighed. Dexter probably wouldn't kill her. He seemed to be truthful but you could never really tell. He wasn't telling the whole truth but neither was she. It was an unspoken compromise between the two of them.

With a hopeful smile Laura fell to her side and snuggled into her cloak, the hood acting as a poor pillow.

Dexter watched Laura begin to fall asleep. He stored the parts of the rabbit they didn't eat in Laura's pack and looked up to the broken moon. He hoped one day he could tell his alpha the full truth. He really didn't care if she did or didn't tell hers. She had proven she was strong, practical, and willing to accept him as a pack member. He had seen her pity him but not for a moment had she deigned to cast him out because of his lack of a soul. He didn't think the thought of getting rid of him even crossed her mind. She probably didn't even realize how kind she was.

Dexter wouldn't tell her that he was perfectly happy fighting grimm on the dark continent. He wasn't quite a grimm nor was he a human. He didn't care much. He was himself and that was enough. It didn't matter to him that his aura didn't work as most auras did. It was still his after all. He considered whether aura was sacred to humans. It would make sense and Laura was fairly horrified as far as horrified can go. It didn't matter much to Dexter.

With a hopeful smile Dexter shifted into his cat form (It was more comfortable this way) laid down to sleep. He had no doubts he had made the right choice in his alpha. Then something occurred to him.

"Wait… How often do assassins come around?"

"Mmm every couple of days to every couple of weeks. They don't attack in villages and Vale though. Well normally." Dexter let out a relieved sigh at this and settled in to sleep.

 **|-\\\/-|**

Dexter was having doubts about his alpha. He knew she wasn't perfect but how can she have messed something up so badly?

Around Dexter were scorches on the ground. It was as if someone had drawn a knife across the ground and threw in explosions to finish the job. Tree that had toppled down were crackling with their independant blazes. This scene was repeated in a line for quite a while. If Dexter had to guess he would say three quarters of a mile had been marred by the unstoppable inferno that was Laura.

At the end of the apocalyptic scene was Laura, one foot on a rock, proudly holding a rabbit with partially singed fur. Dexter could see the pride beaming out of her like she had done something incredible.

"Laura?" Dexter asked calmly.

Laura toned down her pride and looked at Dexter with a smirk on her face. After just a moment she glanced behind him and paled considerably. She nervously looked to Dexter and said "Yes?"

"What is this?" Dexter gestured to the wasteland behind him.

"Uhm… I was hunting."

"You were hunting the forest?"

"No. This rabbit. I wanted to catch breakfast since you got dinner."

"And… that?" Dexter gestured again. A tree fell over behind him.

Laura racked her brain to think of how she managed to do that much destruction. Even when she tried on purpose she couldn't do that much damage.

"Well… I know you make arrows from your bone and I was a little jealous and thought maybe I could do the same."

Dexter stared at her, telling her from his gaze alone to go on.

"My powers aren't exactly subtle you see. I tried making an arrow from ice but it was too light. I tried one from fire and it didn't work well at all. Then I tried using wind to contain the fire compressed inside it and… Well, I got the rabbit, didn't I?"

Dexter looked at Laura tiredly. He had just woken up. "If the ice was too light couldn't you have made it denser? I do that with my bone."

Laura froze. "Oh." she said intelligently.

Another tree fell in the background. A grimm walked into the clearing but saw the destruction and decided to back up where he came. Dexter could empathize.

"We have leftovers from last night's rabbit in your pack, Laura. I stored it."

Laura looked like she might cry. She dropped the rabbit onto the stone and looked down sullenly.

"Now can you put the fire out?"

 **|-\\\/-|**

After their rather hectic morning Dexter wrangled a grudging promise to not use the arrows of doom around Dexter. He didn't miss the 'for now' that was whispered after the promise but he hoped he wouldn't be the poor sucker dealing with his alpha's… explosive tendencies.

On the road Dexter considered trotting along as a beowolf or just asking if he could fly as a nevermoore but decided against it. Traveling as a human, or faunus, was just something that he'd have to get used to. But he had to ask.

"So I mentioned you training me in you sword style last night."

Laura perked up a little at that. "Oh yes! Well, about that. You see, I don't have one."

Dexter nearly tripped at that. "What?!"

Laura smiled a little at Dexter's reaction.

"I learned by getting the crap beaten out of me on a daily basis. Eventually I learned to block, parry, and dodge by trying not to get hit. Then I learned to attack with some more normal instruction."

Dexter thought about that for a moment and sadly decided that that was probably the best way to learn any kind of sword style. Experience was the greatest teacher he supposed.

"So you're going to beat me up every night?"

"Yes. And I'll enjoy every second of it." Laura said happily.

Dexter wondered if it was too late to find a new alpha. In the settlement she had been… somewhat restrained (he worried that he would get "training" in trap detection. It had kept him up last night for a little while.) but in the forest she had turned into explosions and mayhem. Dexter guessed it was a matter of fitting in. She was being hunted by assassins constantly, after all. She had to blend in somewhat.

"So we're going somewhere far away if it's going to take several days, hm?"

"Oh no. It's about thirty miles away. It's rather close by but it will… Dexter?"

Dexter had stopped walking. Several days? For thirty miles? His eye twitched. This was stupid. He had flown for several days and covered thousands. He liked the scenery but there were only so many trees he could take before they got boring.

"You do remember how I can change forms, yes?"

"Ah, yes?" Laura did not see where Dexter was going with this.

"That allows me to transform into multiple types of grimm, regardless of size."

Laura looked at him with confusion.

"I can transform into a nevermoore and I'm not going to walk for miles as a human."

Laura seemed to short circuit for a moment. Soon enough she said slowly:

"You… you can fly."

Dexter looked at her stoically. "Yes."

Laura slowly let a smirk go across her face. "You mean you want me to ride you?"

Dexter looked at her confusedly. "What else would I do? Carry you in my claws?"

Laura's smirk only widened further, like a predator stalking her prey. "You want me to lay on top of you, grab on, and ride you like there's no tomorrow?"

Dexter felt he was missing something but he couldn't tell what. "It really wouldn't take much effort to ride me. I'll be doing most of the work and it won't take much of a challenge."

Laura's eyes narrowed. "What? Not a challenge? I assure you I can last quite a while."

Dexter was certain he was missing something but he couldn't bring himself to ask. "A while? I've worked through the night plenty of times. You won't be an issue."

Laura looked angry for some reason. "What?! I'll be the one working past after you get knocked out from so much-!" a look of comprehension dawned her. "You were talking about flying, weren't you?"

"Yes." Dexter stated. "What were you talking about? Also, if you can last so long flying why haven't you done so in the first place?"

Laura blushed a little and said "I was talking about something else. Don't worry about it. Uhm, I… dust this is hard to say. I won't be riding you for the moment. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that for now."

"Well travelling as a human is very inconvenient. Do you mind if I transform to a beowolf, then? I'm still fine with you riding me in that form if you're uncomfortable with flying."

Laura blushed. A true, honest to dust blush.

"NO!" She yelped. "N-no! Just no!"

Dexter really disliked walking long distances on two legs. "But it's so much easier to-"

"No Dexter!"

Dexter growled. If Laura didn't want to fly that would be fine for him. If she had a fear of heights he could easily carry her as a beowolf instead. However, there is no logical reason for her to deny him a ride at that offer.

"Illogical." He grumbled.

Laura turned her tomato face and continued walking.

|-\\\/-|

 **OMAKE:**

Dexter focused. Okay, a sword. Just a really good-

Something stirred in Dexter and he opened his eyes. A sword. A real metal sword had just appeared in front of him… what?

Dexter frowned and squinted just to make sure he was seeing this right… yes that was a sword. Quite like he imagined it actually. But he had been focused on transforming his body's bone into an unorthodox shape… so why was it made of metal? And his aura was practically full still.

Taking a small leap of judgement Dexter focused a bit on making a pile of gold. He didn't close his eyes this time. Spontaneously, as if bidden in by his will, a pile of gold appeared in front of him…

A shield, a table, an assortment of bricks made into a cage, and a suit of armor later Dexter had decided that he wasn't imagining it. He was somehow denying the concept of nothingness and making things from that nothing. It wasn't his semblance either, if he even had one. Dexter didn't have any choice but to equate it to magic.

Say… his mother wanted humanity, right? So couldn't he make beowolves en-masse for her and just conquor humanity? Or, hell, he might as well make a massive dragon and conquer Remnant…

Dexter smiled just a tiny bit. Oh, wait, he was smiling? Maybe this new form caused some changes to him…

Half an hour later a grimm dragon a mile long and a quarter mile high had destroyed three towns and five caravans. It was frantically marked as an SS ranked grimm by the nearby settlements as messengers raced from the towns towards Vale for the king to kill it.

After making the dragon Dexter absently wondered if he could make aura. A brief flexing of willpower showed that yes he could. Another flex showed that he could expand his.

All over Remnant the hunters stumbled as an aura signature so absurdly large came into being that it could be sensed even by those who hadn't trained in the practice. Simply having an aura meant you could sense it.

An ocean away Salem yelped as a humongous aura came into being… wait, she recognized that aura… oh shit.

Dexter smiled. So he could create aura. Good to know. But of more importance was this… he could create energy but could he create other energies? Like speed?

A rock flying at the speed of sound at a forest showed that yes he could… what else could he create? Maybe he could just smash a few continents and then humanity might just stop eing a nuisance.

Roughly two hours later the continent of Anima became the islands of Anima and Sanus became Sanus one and two. Also there were no kingdoms and everyone just sort of gave up on understanding what was going on.

A wizard and former king reincarnated into a young boy was incoherently screaming. So was everyone else in Remnant.

 **AN: Some of you might be wondering why they're getting along so well when just days ago they were playing cat and mouse. Well, Dexter is doing it because he's his alpha and it's an instinctual thing. He doesn't even have to think about it. There's also the stuff I'm doing behind the scenes that you can't know about yet.**

 **Laura is doing it because she's confident Dexter isn't an assassin. Mostly. She realizes Dexter has had chances to kill her and he hasn't taken them so she's alright having him along. Company travelling is nice, after all. She's also lonely. Remember the pastries stand?**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Another chapter another… NICKEL! … what, no laughter? Fine then. Have a nice weekend you all. If you're reading this in a future weekday then hold out.**

 **Grimm souls chapter 7**

 **The friend**

It had been a month since Laura and Dexter had met and they had gotten along well. Dexter had gotten somewhat more social with Laura other than questions and answers and Laura had fully placed her faith in Dexter not being an assassin. She'd had known before but there was a difference between knowing and understanding.

In training Dexter had repeatedly gotten his ass handed to him yet he was getting better. Laura had suggested training in raw aura techniques for him due to his large and constantly growing aura. Raw aura techniques were techniques utilizing control over aura to do things like make weapons harder, create shields, and do ranged attacks. Basic exercises were along the lines of the unconscious shielding everybody except Dexter could do, actively channeling aura into weaponry, channeling aura into dust, and enhancing the body physically during combat. More intermediate exercises went along external manipulation like shields done consciously and making small explosions of force. The truly advanced stuff was along the lines of walking along walls, creating a rope out of aura, and making temporary solid tools made of aura.

The reason everyone didn't do the exercises above the beginner level was because of how impractical it was for anyone without a large aura, which was rare in new hunters. Old hunters with considerable aura also refrained from using the techniques due to already having a fighting style seperate from the techniques. Only beginner level techniques were common. At the higher levels of combat they became more common. People like the heads of hunter clans almost always had a few up their sleeves.

At the moment Dexter was trying to piece together the explosions of force and a ranged attack. The explosion was more like a shockwave that acts as an explosion. It possessed no heat yet it was included in the third law of motion. In other words, it could be used as an accelerant to Dexter when he attacked in one of his more bestial forms. The ranged attack was needed because Dexter wanted a ranged attack for his more bestial forms as well. The nevermoore form in particular. Lastly Dexter wanted to piece together a more advanced form of weapon enhancement where his aura actually became a blade of its own with immense sharpness. It was a step away from projecting aura as a tool, which was useless but the sharpening effect applied to arrows could be invaluable.

Despite how useful all of the techniques would be they were also extremely time consuming to learn even with a teacher. Dexter didn't expect to learn any well for about a half a year and certainly not master any for several. There was still plenty of time for goofing off, despite Dexter's lofty goals of training.

"I still don't see why we're here." Dexter stated exhaustedly.

"I've told you three times!" How can you keep forgetting?!" That was true. Laura had been adamant about coming to the festival for days. Dexter had considered shifting into her pet dog or something along those lines for the duration of the concert but Laura hadn't put up with that. He was dragged by his feet for the better portion of a mile before he had given into going with her.

"Dawnstar point, you have a good friend here, festival around tomorrow, and most importantly, you want to come here."

"Exactly! The Dawnstar festival is important to… um, people. We should come here for… Okay, I want to see Abaya again and this is the best time to get a drink in this town."

Dexter sighed at this. It hadn't taken long for Dexter to realize that Laura REALLY liked alcohol. Luckily she could restrain herself somewhat but this was a festival with cheap and good alcohol and worst of all she had a drinking buddy. This couldn't be anything but bad.

"Well… I'm going to go and -"

"Oh no you don't." Dexter was about to escape when Laura caught him by the shirt and dragged him with her.

"You're meeting with Abaya. Final."

"You still haven't told me why I have to be here." Dexter growled.

"You'll see when we get there."

Dexter sighed and walked with Laura. It was better than getting the pitying looks the villagers gave him, even if it was annoying to give up. Soon enough he and Laura came to the edge of town overlooking a cliff. A stairway down the cliff had been constructed out of wood and looked surprisingly sturdy. A gondola sat beside the stairway though it seemed to be more for fish than people.

"It's a fishing village." Laura remarked. Dexter looked down towards the clear water down the cliffside. There were a multitude of smallish sailboats milling around in the water. The people in the boats seemed to be relaxing rather than fishing, though. Most likely due to the festival Dexter considered.

"You always talked about coming here for the festival but you never told me what the festival was about."

Laura perked up a little but continued looking at the boats. "It's a pretty old festival. It sprung up some few hundred years ago. It's intended as a time for people to be happy. Back then people thought that since grimm were attracted to sadness fish and game were attracted to happiness. People would get drunk and celebrate to bring good fishing and repel the grimm. They celebrate by doing three things. Fishing, fighting, and women."

Dexter looked at Laura with confusion at the last part. She continued on regardless.

"There's a competition for who can catch the biggest fish, who fights the best, and the last part is supposed to be a reward. The winners of the two competitions get to choose a girl of their choice to sleep with. It used to be arranged marriage but people are moving out of that stuff. It's supposed to be a celebration for happy times. Not a life with a man you don't want."

Dexter thought for a moment. "It seems rather outdated."

"It is." Laura confirmed. "It's an archaic thing but it works. People like the fishing. People like the fighting. People especially like the last part. It's supposed to be a happy one night of fun sort of thing. One night of real happiness in otherwise boring lives. I think that's why it's gone on so long."

Dexter considered it for a moment. "I think I'll enter the festival."

"You?! Fishing?!" Laura said, shocked.

Dexter gave Laura an incredulous look. "No. Fighting."

"Oh. Oh, right." Laura shook her head a little. Then she imagined Dexter in a tiny fishing boat in a straw hat with a stoic look on his face. Such a ridiculous look didn't fit him at all and she stifled a giggle with a grin.

"The fighting starts after the sunset. Fishing happens from when the sunset until the hour ends. Then when that's over the fighting begins."

"We're going to Abaya's home first?"

"Yeah. It's right over there." Laura pointed behind them to the right. There was a small path leading to a tiny clearing and you could see a small house there only a few rooms large.

Before looking away from the view Dexter glanced at the sun. He didn't have a perfect time but he suspected he'd have an hour or two until the fishing contest starts. Then the fighting would begin.

Dexter turned from the view towards the cliff towards the path where Laura was standing. The walk took but a moment and they were at the front door to the house.

Laura knocked at the door and listened intently for a moment. Curious, Dextr did the same. All he heard were footsteps as someone approached the door. Before the door opened Laura slid half behind Dexter.

The door opened. Abaya was a well defined woman. She clearly wasn't a huntress from her inactive aura and lack of muscles. She wore a maroon apron tightly fitted over a brown short sleeved shirt and had tight but not constraining linen pants. Dexter absently noted she wore gloves and smelled of herbs.

"Abaya! I brought a sacrifice! Please don't kill me!" Laura cried dramatically from behind Dexter.

Abaya grinned and Dexter could see she recognized Laura. "Weeeell" she drawled. "I believe you told me you were paying for my drinks if you didn't bring a man back." She looked intently at Dexter for a moment and asked "You and her aren't involved, right?"

"We aren't courting, no." Dexter said plainly. He could feel the fake looks of betrayal from Laura.

"Hah!" Abaya laughed sharply. "When I said to have a man when you get back here I meant _have_ a man. You just brought him here, didn't ya?"

"Dragged me here, actually." Dexter was having fun now. Laura stood very still behind Dexter but he knew she was faking her fear.

"Nice try, Laura. Even if he is handsome and pretty intimidating with those weapons and eyes of his you're not off the hook since you're not involved." Abaya reached out and grabbed Laura's shoulder and drew her inside her home. She casted a glance at Dexter. "I'll see you later if you care to talk. Laura will be explaining our little bet later." She shut the door.

Dexter stood still for a moment before walking away thinking of what to do now. His alpha had dragged him along for dramatics and drinks, which he should probably get used to expecting now, and the festival's one interesting part wouldn't happen for another hour or so.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter stopped for a moment at the cliff and laid down on his side. Perhaps he should just fly around. He hadn't done that in a while and the air was quite warm here. He was certain it would feel nice.

Considering that a better idea than any others Dexter glanced around, seeing no bystanders, and took a running start towards the cliff. Just a moment before the edge Dexter drew a large amount of aura into his legs and leapt into the air. For a moment he stood suspended above the beach below and he looked at the people on the ground. After the moment was over he did the practiced shift he could do with a thought. He shrunk in on himself and felt the odd sensation of feathers growing over his far skinnier arms as he transformed.

Dexter flapped a little to gain speed and found a current to glide on. He stilled his wings and enjoyed the air. It really was nice to just fly for a while. However, Dexter considered something. He enjoyed flying quite a bit even if he didn't do it all that often. He had flown back to town once for Laura when she forgot a few knives at the inn they had stayed at once but other than that he hadn't much of a need for flying. When he was flying, though, he wanted it to be nice. Being a large nevermore was rather fun but there was something nagging him.

Unless they grew to insane age most grimm were rather weak. This is not the case for the larger grimm such as the kraken, dragons, sea dragons, threshers, or a few other types. Those strong grimm needed several teams of well prepared huntsmen according to the men in bars. The more medium-ish grimm such as a nucklevee, tortuga, great croc, and deathstalkers could be taken out with some preparation from the stronger hunters or just a party of hunters. Grimm like beowolves and creepers were fodder.

Taking into account that I can kill beowolves easily and handle several of what I'll call medium grimm at a time this puts me along the upper end of the strength spectrum. However, this doesn't take into account my versatility. I can fly and use a multitude of weapons and forms with my abilities. Not to mention that I can fly away if need be. However, hunter teams often use teamwork to overwhelm grimm. I'm alone in fighting.

All in all Dexter was strong in comparison to others but he was lacking in important areas. A team of well equipped and experienced hunters could wipe him out easily. This was not the case if they went up against a creature such as a grimm dragon. And since Dexter can transform into a multitude of grimm types…

Dexter had long known his strength was directly proportional to his aura. His strength, speed, and abilities were all dependant on his aura. With the constant training Dexter had an immense supply of aura at his disposal. It was a well of power in him larger than that of the strongest hunter. It's a shame it only heals him rather than defend him. One hit K.O.'s are completely viable for Dexter.

Even with all of Dexter's training he still felt… weak. Laura could take him out easily with her powers. She'd proven that many times in their training sessions. Without it she could match him well because of his inexperience with his sword. He was getting better, though.

This brings Dexter back to his original point, though. He couldn't win against Laura in his human form. It was too unfamiliar to him though he was making progress in rectifying that. What Dexter was best at was the battle instincts of the grimm. The clashing of claws, a bite to a neck, hiding in the shadows picking off his enemies one by one. That was what Dexter was best at. He had spent years upon years learning to fight in that fashion and breaking such habits was hard.

He needed a trump card. The advanced form of the grimm was such.

To Dexter's displeasure he was unable to practice such a form in his current location. With so many people around he would more likely cause a panic. That would stop him from fighting. He wondered what weapons the humans would have. Was aura allowed? It was an event Dexter was looking forward to.

Looking once more to the sun Dexter saw the sun just about to touch the sea. It was a picturesque scene. The sun reflected off the water beautifully from the sky above. It was as though two stars were coming closer for a fusion. The sky was painted a reddish orange. In the corners of the sky there was a hint of blue still left but even as Dexter watched it was being extinguished. Aaaaaand it's gone.

A cheer was heard from the shore by the cliffs. Even from Dexter's distance the noise was deafening. The boats in the water flew into action. Men were tossing in their fishing rods with laughs and Dexter could see men take great draws from bottles of beer or moonshine. Something alcoholic except for the kids that were scattered around.

Taking in a deep breath Dexter basked in the sun on his feathers, black as they were they absorbed the heat from the sun in the warm spring air.

With a tinge of disappointment Dexter flew back all the way to Abaya's home and shifted back.

"Laura!" He called.

Without a response the door opened swiftly and Laura and Abaya walked out talking about something, slurring their words somewhat. Dexter couldn't understand them. He didn't speak tipsy.

"Imma terin yah. Weaint like at." Laura slurred, an accent slipping through. For the life of him Dexter couldn't translate. Not only the slurring but Laura's accent never slipped through unless she'd been drinking. He hadn't known she had one until he's seen her drunk for the first time.

"Mmmmmmmhmmmm." Abaya… moaned? It was hard to tell really. She seemed slightly more lucid than Laura but it was hard to tell. It seemed both of the ladies were the stereotypical stupid drunks. Dexter suddenly became concerned with letting Abaya near the cliff. Laura would be fine. She had kicked his ass when she was drinking once. Yes. She would be just fine.

Dexter tried very hard to ignore his alpha and her friend as they went walking towards the stairs to the cliff. They continued their walking and babbling - something about emos if he heard right. What's an emo? - and were, somehow, able to walk down the many flights down the cliff.

It was a good ten minutes of stairs later that the group finally reached the bottom.

"Sthubid stairth." Abaya slurred. When had she gotten a lisp?! Sthubid dwunkths.

Dexter went walking to a well dressed man who seemed to be in charge of things and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," he began politely, "when will the fighting start?"

"Hah!" The man exclaimed. "Whenever someone throws a punch, my friend! But you can't fight sober! Here!" He thrusted a bottle of something, beer the label said (Dexter didn't think it smelled like gin. More like moonshine), and turned away.

Considering the bottle for a moment Dexter wasn't sure if he wanted to drink it or not. After a moment he decided to try just a little. He took a sip and felt it burn somewhat pleasantly down his throat. He tried a few more and found that despite its harshness it was rather good.

Dexter continued drinking and waited for the fishermen to come in. It only took a few minutes for most of them to come in. It was clear between three fishermen that one of them had the largest fish. It took some measuring but one fellow in a tattered brown vest that was once green had the largest. The fishermen dropped the fish into some extremely large barrels filled with water and looked at each other.

A grin came across one of the men who barely lost and Dexter saw his hand form a fist. With a crack his fist hit the face of his other almost winner. The man who won walked over to a crowd of women and pulled one in for a kiss. The woman laughed and ran off with him as chaos began among the losing fishermen. The women laughed in a crowd and drank and chatted about the men fighting.

Dexter happily threw his fist into the chin of the man next to him. The man winced but grinned and grabbed Dexter's arm, throwing him into another man. Dexter roundhouse kicked said man and finished the kick with a punch to a man behind him.

Dexter spent the next five or ten minutes going that way. Punching, kicking, and occasionally grappling with strangers. It was a sort of unsaid agreement to not hit someone from behind throughout the fighters. Eventually a few men stepped out to take a breather or mend a somewhat annoying injury such as a chipped tooth or a particularly nasty bruise.

After the fifth or seventh minute mark the fighting became slightly more tame wrestling. Dexter enjoyed that more since it was absent of the pain from injury. Not that Dexter minded the injuries. His aura healed the wounds too fast for them to be of consequence.

Eventually, as with the fishing contest, it was down to a few members willing to fight on. Most of the others had bowed out or been knocked unconscious in the nastier cases. Dexter, a large burly shirtless man, a skinny man built like a martial artist with curious pink eyes, and an old fellow who kept his muscular shape up admirably.

"Names?" The burly man asked.

"Thompson." The older man stated gruffly.

"Lie Yin." The martial artist stated serenely.

"Dexter." Dexter said neutrally.

"And I'm Arnold but people call me Brick." The burly man said in a friendly fashion. He looked towards Yin. "Mistralian?" Yin shrugged. Maybe it was complicated.

"Well, fine with me so long as ya fight decently." The old man grinned.

"Ha!" The burly man barked. "Well for drinks, women, and -"

"Wait, why women?" Dexter asked.

The old man sighed. "Lad, why are you even here?"

"I like fighting." Dexter said simply.

Thompson grinned at that. "Hey Brick! We've got little you over here!"

"Shut it old bastard! At least I got a woman in the end! Besides, I'm not even a faunus like him."

Thompson scowled and rolled his eyes at Brick but said nothing.

Lie Yin, thankfully, enlightened Dexter. "The one who wins the fight chooses a woman to mate with for the night."

Dexter stared at Yin for a moment and said to everyone "I don't get what the fuss is about." Some of the women in the crowd groaned in exasperation at this. Abaya pinched the bridge of her nose in disappointment. Laura chuckled a little.

"I've fought in this tournament since I was fourteen and I still don't get the woman thing either. I just like fighting." Brick agree. "I have a wife." Yin injected helpfully. In the crowd of women plenty of them groaned or sighed at Yin.

"Wait…" Thompson said. "Am I the only one who came here to get a girl?"

The other three contestants looked at each other to make sure and all three nodded at about the same time. Thompson looked extremely disappointed in all of them. The women snickered a little. "You youngsters need to get your priorities straight." Thompson said.

"Enough of this." Thompson said dismissively. "It's been nice talking but we should do what we came here for. Let's fight!"

Dexter and Thompson ran at each other first. Brick and Yin ran to each other as well.

Thompson struck first with a probing straight punch toward Dexter's stomach. Dexter sidestepped and kicked at the man. Thompson dodged with a small backpedal. Hoping to gain an offensive Dexter went for a sweep. Thompson hopped over it and stepped forward with a kick ready. Dexter rolled right on his shoulder and stood up. It was slightly irritating that Dexter hadn't landed a hit in the exchange but it couldn't be fixed.

Dexter took the initiative in the next exchange and charged forward and grabbed Thompson's left arm. His right sucker punched Thompson's side and the man's eyes widened. Dexter felt a little brave so he pulled Thompson towards him and over his shoulder. Thompson tried to twist away but with Dexter's recent hit he was too out of breath to do so. He fell on his back and winced. Before Dexter could attack again Thompson rolled out of the way and staggered up.

Dexter was already on the move, wanting to press his advantage, and Thompson dodged a punch aimed towards his face. He backed up a little but Dexter didn't relent. While continuing to attack Thompson Dexter spared a moment to check on the other two. Brick was speckled with a multitude of small bruises on his torso. The eager look on his face was replaced with one of annoyance and focus. Yin, on the other hand, was looking rather tired. Dexter had known he had aura but he seemed to be preventing it from protecting him. Dexter respected that.

Back with Thompson Dexter saw a golden opportunity. The old man had overextended himself with awkward footing. Dexter grabbed hold of Thompson's wrist and pulled him forward, capitalizing on Thompson's momentum. Dexter saw Thompson's eyes widen as he realized his mistake as Dexter drew his knee into the poor man's gut. Thompson wheezed out "I give." and Dexter stopped his upcoming punch to the man's face. Instead he helped the man to his feet and walked him to the women. Several were licking their lips as they pulled the man close. Thompson laughed as he gave Dexter a wink and pulled two mature women in his age range close before they laughed and walked away. Thompson seemed very happy with the outcome of his match. The other fishermen cheered for the lucky old dog with a few laughs thrown in.

In the moment Dexter turned towards Yin and Brick he saw the finishing move. Apparently inspired by Dexter's throw Brick tried to replicate it as best he could. He grabbed Yin's forearm, grunting at a hit to his pectorals he sustained a hit from Yin, and with a great feat of strength was about to throw Yin into the ground. Instead Yin seemed to push some sort of pressure point on the man and his grip was released. Yin jumped on the man's back and put Brick into a chokehold. Brick fell on his ass and seemed to consider falling on his back but didn't. He patted the ground a few times, signalling defeat.

Yin hopped off and let Brick breathe a moment. The man rubbed his throat and gently touched some of his worse bruises. Dexter politely ignored whatever words they were exchanging and the two shook hands as Brick left to the women. One larger woman grabbed onto him with a sultry look and the two left with a few whistles and cheers behind them.

Finally Dexter and Yin faced each other. "That was a good move at the end. The pressure point you his was certainly interesting to see. I'm not sure if I could pull that off."

"Yes. That was certainly a move I'm proud of. I wasn't sure I could pull it off myself, however." Yin explained with a smile.

"Perhaps we should meet after the fight. I'm sure we'll both have plenty of stories to tell." Dexter said amicably.

"Sadly I have to leave early in the morning. I am glad you would be willing to share, though. Perhaps after this we'll meet again." Yin paused for a moment. "It's unlikely, though. My family resides in Mistral territory. I am here for a pilgrimage of sorts."

Dexter smiled and nodded. Before he started, though Yin added something. "As I am rather exhausted from fighting Brick I am curious, could we change the rules slightly?"

"I would be fine with that."

"Could we possibly do first solid hit wins the match? I am well aware I would lose to you as is."

At this Dexter thought for a moment. Yin was clearly tired. He had fought for ten minutes straight in the initial brawl and Dexter had no problems with second place. "Sure." He said simply.

With that settled Yin made the first move. He dashed towards Dexter. An axe kick ready. Dexter hopped right calmly, seeing Yin charge out of the dust with a kick swinging for his side. Dexter stepped in close to Yin and punched towards his sternum quickly. Yin seemed to be expecting this, though, and batted the strike away. He planted his feet and let out a few punches in rapid succession. Dexter quickly diverted or blocked them all. Yin, however, had a snap kick pointed towards Dexter's chin. Dexter shifted his feet and moved his head to avoid it yet even so the kick blew through his hair. It was a little close for comfort.

Dexter opted for a straight punch at Yin that made him back off. He and Dexter circled each other for a brief reprieve. Yin looked exhausted now yet he kept his guard up admirably and his breathing controlled. Dexter went in for one final engagement and he knew it would be the last.

Dexter started by slowly getting closer as opposed to the rushing he had done previously. Yin noticed and started by stepping for a jab, taking more of a boxer's stance than the martial arts pose he had used previously. Dexter moved his body and sent a few jabs in himself just to see Yin block them. Dexter went in for a grapple but Yin moved just enough to get away from it. He sent another snap kick towards Dexter but Dexter did something unexpected. He crouched down.

From below Dexter pounced, as he had when he was a beowolf, and attacked furiously. Punches were thrown hard and fast with little regard for aiming for a vital spot as Dexter had before. Yin desperately blocked the attacks but Dexter pulled another surprise. He kicked. The very same snap kick Yin had used was done again but with Yin's stomach as the target rather than Dexter's head. Dexter's kick landed, distracted as Yin was by Dexter's rain of attacks as well as his exhaustion caused whatever was fueling Yin to disappear and he crumpled to the ground.

Suddenly the crowd cheered wildly. Clapping, cheering, and whoops of joy were done. Dexter saw money change hands among the villagers as well. "Good… Job." Yin said.

Dexter looked at Yin with amusement. He reached down to catch his hand and pulled him up, letting him lean on Dexter. Without a word Dexter walked him over to the ladies, who were finding men to spend the night with, and deposited him on a chair by the cliffside. Dexter glanced around and saw no ladies making a move on Yin. It was good that they respected a married man enough to leave him be even on the festival. Several eyes were on Dexter, though.

Dexter only had eyes on one thing, though. Laura was surprisingly still awake with Abaya by her. She was chuckling at Dexter's display and, to Dexter's annoyance, she passed some money to Abaya. She had bet on Yin? She would pay for that later.

Dexter came up to Laura and picked her up bridal style. She didn't seem to expect this but didn't fight it. Cheers and laughs were made as Dexter carried Laura away and up the stairs. "Look, Dexter," Laura said sleepily "I like you a lot but I'm not jumping into that kind of relationship."

"I know." Dexter said. Laura eyed him curiously. "We'll be sleeping together but not _sleeping_ together. You've not allowed me to sleep in my beowolf form despite it being my most comfortable and warmest form. Because you're obligated to sleep with me you're going to see why I'll be in my beowolf form sleeping from now on." Dexter paused. "Unless we're in a town or something of the sort. Then I'll be a faunus, naturally."

Laura looked at Dexter with sleepy eyes before closing them and letting her breathing slow. Dexter was touched she'd be comfortable enough with him to fall asleep in his arms despite not knowing him for that long. It was a sign of trust that made Dexter feel warm inside.

Inside Abaya's house Dexter locked the door behind him with a little difficulty. He glanced around the hut. There was one central workshop and on two seperate sides of the house there was a wall with an empty doorway dividing the house. He peeked in the larger one to find it to be a bedroom. Dexter put Laura down on the bed and shifted to a smaller variant of his beowolf form. He crawled onto the bed and curled up next to Laura facing her. He smiled when he felt Laura grab onto him lightly mumbling something about warm. He drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face. It must have looked terrifying.

|-\\\/-|

Abaya walked home with her man for the night, a nice guy named Tom that she fancied, and brought him along to her house. The two kissed occasionally along the way along with intimate touches.

Abaya reached for the door and pulled on it a little, finding it locked. She stopped for a moment before realizing that Laura and her faunus friend, Dexter, had walked up here a half hour ago. She thought for a moment before shrugging. She grabbed Tom by the arm and dragged him off by the arm to a nice patch of trees not far away. Tom laughed and began undressing before even getting the full way there.

Abaya would be getting a man for the night whether she had a place to sleep or not. It wasn't like she'd be doing much sleeping anyways. She was plenty energetic since she hadn't fought. Oh, yes. She would get what she wanted and more.

 **AN: Before any of you ask, no Abaya is not based on anybody I know nor is she from any other series I could think of. I just sort of made her as an interesting character to smooth out the story for me. She certainly did that and I enjoyed writing her.**

 **Now, there was some fighting, some fluffy moments between Laura and Dexter, and some funny lines scattered here and there. I can't help the humor. I think it works well with the story. This isn't meant to be some angsty OP character or anything like that. It's a story. It has ups, downs, solemn moments, new friends, and a world to explore. It has bad guys, good guys, guys who are both good and bad, and characters like Abaya who are just there to simply make the story a little better even if just the smallest amount. Some characters don't even do that and simply are. The humor doesn't have to mean anything. Sometimes humor just is.**

 **I'll clarify right now that the whole 'fighters get a woman' thing isn't something that works in real life at all. It's not something people should actively support either. This is pseudo-medieval Remnant, after all. There's a gender divide in some more rural places and a class divide that you'll see in later chapters.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Well this story hasn't really took off but whatever. I'm just writing this for fun. I'm going to put out the rest of the chapters and see if people really want to see more of this. I've started working on my gamer rewrite more. Would you all be interested in seeing that? I know a few people absolutely loved that. It's kind of like that but I used what lessons I learned in that to make it… well, better… you know what I'm just going to try putting a few chapters of that out. I might as well since I really like writing it.**

 **Also I think of Dexter meeting Laura in late June so after the nine months it's about mid-spring right now. Winter just ended. Just a little sidenote. I'm going on earth seasons for remnant. I hope they don't throw me a curveball like that there are eight months in a year on remnant in season six. I doubt they will but I just thought I'd say it.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 8**

 **The plans**

It had been about nine months after first meeting Laura and Dexter was just about desensitized to her madness. He thought he saw a pattern in it. Mostly playing angry god with her powers and messing around in private regardless of mass destruction.

"HAHAHAHAHAH! FEAR MY WRATH PUNY GROUND DWELLERS! FOR I AM LAURA THE ALMIGHTY AND I COMMAND THESE SKIES! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

" _Please stop please stop please stop please stop please stop"_ Dexter cried this in his mind as lightning raged around him. A few days ago Laura had reluctantly gone flying with Dexter just for fun after a lot of prodding from Dexter. She had gone reluctantly and, once in the air, had had a tremendous amount of fun. The second time she had timidly tried her maiden powers to do things like give Dexter a tailwind, reduce turbulence, and other mildly helpful augmentations to Dexter's flight. Then there was this time…

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Laura and Dexter had come across a village on their way to the north eastern islands. The village had been having trouble with some local nevermores that had been harassing their trade routes and, upon seeing Laura, a powerful hunter, and her puny apprentice (Laura had teased Dexter to no end for that misconception. Especially since Dexter could now hold his own against her if she didn't use her semblance.) the village had decided to contract them to kill the nevermoores. Laura had excitedly called a storm and convinced Dexter to fly her for some grand idea of hers. He should know better than to trust her to make her own decisions. She was like a child on a sugar rush when she was allowed to fully play with her powers. It was terrifying.

*BOOMBOOOMBOOM!* The nevermoores screamed in terror as best they were able but there was no hope.

A small part of Dexter, the part that revelled in fighting, thrill seeking, and pushing himself to the limit, whispered that Laura should add oxygen to the fire to make it burn hotter and sweep the wind through it to make a firestorm in the already harsh storm. Dexter would cry if that happened.

Flying in a storm was stupid. Flying in a storm of hellfire was terrifying and suicidal. Flying through a sea of hellfire and lightning while a lightning storm was occuring with a human more destructive than any grimm was crazy beyond words. Dexter wondered if he was as crazy as Laura was. What other reason had he had to agree to this?

Dexter swerved out of the way of an errant nevermoore in his way. He cawed in annoyance at Laura. She was supposed to keep the grimm away from him! "It was too tiny!" She protested. Dexter cawed again, this time in disappointment. "I'll practice a bit later but cut me some slack! I'm on a flying nevermoore in the middle of a storm!" Dexter was silent at this. She was right but he was still annoyed.

A thunderbolt had arced out from Dexter. He could smell the ozone. Several nevermoores screeched and fell. Dexter looked around. He didn't see any more of them. Suddenly a massive screech rang out. Dexter's eyes widened. It was a giant variant. Most nevermoores were the size of normal birds or a shed. A giant variant was the size of a large house. Four times the size of the normal ones and tougher. They were also able to shoot their feathers as projectiles. Normal nevermoores couldn't do that.

Dexter heard Laura angrily whisper a curse. His mind was already whirring with ideas as to how to deal with the grimm. He could try out that dragon form he hadn't had a chance to do yet… No. Not in combat where the outcome was unpredictable.

Dexter instead cawed curiously. "No." Laura replied. How was she understanding Dexter so well anyways? "We should fight it here. Tracking it down would be hard and time consuming. I want a drink."

" _Of course you do."_ Dexter thought sarcastically. He adjusted himself to go by the nevermoore so that Laura could strike it. Sadly, however, the nevermoore noticed them. For a moment it did nothing but a moment later it cawed angrily and rotated itself facing upwards and a storm of pinions flew at Dexter.

Dexter, in a split second decision, did a barrel roll to his right, completely forgetting about Laura. "OH GODS DEXTER PLEASE DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!" Dexter would have smirked if he had a mouth. Flying was fun but being suspended on a giant bird and hoping you didn't get hit by dangerous feathers was far less fun.

Dexter banked a little bit and hoped Laura could see well enough to shoot something. He heard a whooshing sound of a fireball. The nevermoore screeched in pain. A hiss and crackle indicated it had been lit on fire but the fire was being put out by the rain.

Dexter decided he would apologize to Laura later. He started a flip and ignored the scream from his passenger, who was once more hanging on. Maybe she would stop asking for flights now that Dexter wasn't flying as kindly as before. He righted himself and was now trailing the wounded nevermoore.

Laura seemed to have decided to say nothing and instead prepare a lightning bolt. Dexter could hear the crackle and feel the tingling of electricity close to him. Dexter continued trailing the nevermoore as it tried to evade him. He avoided any flips or rolls for Laura's sake.

Laura shifted on his back and Dexter marvelled as the massive bolt of lightning arced out from him and Laura to the giant nevermoore. A screech rang out from the bird and it convulsed in the air. It fell from the sky with its wings twitching. A cloud of dust poofed out from where it landed. Black smoke drifted up from it as it withered away.

Dexter sighed in relief at the end of the fight. Laura overusing her powers was scary and gave her a headache, she claimed. A cranky Laura was also scary if Dexter trained with her.

As the two were a mile out of the village and out of the artificial storm Dexter landed and transformed to a faunus again. As soon as he did he felt Laura cuff the back of his head. It didn't really hurt but Dexter rubbed it to make her feel better.

"Sorry." Dexter said insincerely.

"You should be. That was terrifying. I was readying a lightning bolt and suddenly I'm upside down." Laura glared halfheartedly at Dexter. It was clear she was tired from using her powers so much and hanging on to Dexter for so long.

"At least we get a reward." Dexter pointed out.

Laura brightened up a little at that. "Yes. I suppose we do."

With that the two started the trek through the woods. Dexter casually killed a few beowolves that came at the two, not even stopping to deal with them. He had fought so many before that he could deal with them easily now. Even in his faunus form. The beowolves didn't even have an alpha.

As the two arrived into the village they walked without a word to the ealdorman of the village. "You got them?" He asked.

"Yup!" Laura said happily. "Just some nevermoores and one giant one. It wasn't too hard."

"A giant nevermoore?!" The ealdorman said, surprised. "Nice job! Ah, you don't want more for that one, do you?"

Laura shook her head. The ealdorman smiled gratefully and tossed her a pouch of coin. "Happy travels!" He called.

It didn't take long for Laura to sniff out the nearest bar. How she did it was a mystery to even her. On the way to the bar Dexter noticed something odd. The town was… still, for lack of a better word. There was a latent energy in the air. Like the whole town was holding its breath as it waited for something.

The bar was rustic. Tables sparsely dotting the room with benches in a semicircle around a hearth. The room buzzed with mumbled conversation. The men drinking were in a far more serious mood than normal for a bar. Something had happened and Dexter wanted to know what. So he asked.

"Excuse me?" Dexter tapped the shoulder of an unassuming man with his drink. The man turned his head to look at Dexter curiously. "Something happened. Would you happen to know what?" The man grimaced a small bit. "A riot of sorts struck the eastern islands a week ago. We just heard the news here. War." With that said the man turned away with a somber sip of his drink.

Dexter looked down at the floor for a moment to think of the implications of a new war before he walked towards Laura, who was sitting at the bar with a drink already in hand. He sat down next to her and got her attention.

"A war started." Laura spat out her drink. A few customers glared at her but she and Dexter ignored them.

"What?!" She hissed.

"It's as I said." Dexter said calmly. "A riot broke out in the eastern islands. War started."

Laura scowled into her liquor. "We need to learn more. If the war is serious I'll be called in by Vale to support the war. Whether directly or indirectly." Dexter considered the merits of fighting in a war. He concluded that all he'd get was large scale fighting experience, which wasn't worth a war in the slightest.

"Do you want me to find out more?"

"No. We'll start for Vale tomorrow. No training tonight" Dexter accepted this silently. He instead focused on the important things. Like going to bed. He quite liked sleep now. Even if he didn't need it he found that sleeping was nice and relaxing.

The room was on the third floor of the tavern. Dexter had rarely seen an inn without a taproom of some sort in his travels. Travelers slept in the upper rooms of bars. It was just how it was in Vale. Perhaps it was different in the other kingdoms but Dexter had never bothered to find out. The room was plain as usual. He set up a few traps on the window and door that Laura had taught him and got onto the bed as he shifted into a beowolf. Ever since that night a few months ago Laura had warmed up to the idea of sleeping with Dexter as he was in his base form. Dexter enjoyed being able to let go of the mental discipline of keeping in a faunus form up and Laura got a hug pillow.

Laura had gotten curious if all grimm were as fluffy as Dexter and subdued one physically a few weeks ago to test him. She had been confused as to why Dexter was so soft in comparison to the bristles most beowolves had. Dexter had refused to tell her that he was originally made as a housepet for his mother. It would be like handing her ammunition to tease him. It would mean she'd make fun of him for months. He'd denied any knowledge of his fluffiness at all. Laura had rolled her eyes and called him a 'big softie'. The pun was not appreciated.

So Dexter accepted his role as a pillow. He got under the covers and shifted, making sure not to shred the mattress with his claws. He fell into light sleep soon after. He only shifted a little when he heard Laura crawl into the bed with the smell of alcohol and something salty on her.

|-\\\/-|

It was early in the morning that Dexter and Laura set off. Laura gathered what she had, which was lighter than before thanks to Dexter making small tools with his supposed semblance. It took a surprising amount of weight off of Laura. Tools were heavy.

Dexter carried little with him at all. Some common spices to make meals taste better, a hammock, and a tarp. Laura had demanded that she not do all the work even if she was used to it. Dexter had taken the tarp as a result and he loved lazing in the hammock when he had free time. It amused him to set up the tarp in unreachable or hidden places. There was some feeling of satisfaction in setting a hammock above a river or on the side of a cliff. Once he'd found a large cave. He'd gotten the stakes driven into the ceiling and he slept there for the night. He'd scared Laura when she came into the cave by sneaking up on her and stealing what she had. She'd panicked later when she thought she'd lost most of her money and the maps. Sparring had been rougher than normal that night.

As Dexter and Laura strolled out of the small hamlet of a village Laura started up a conversation while walking.

"I still don't know why you can't just turn into a normal horse or a normal dog."

"I have told you before that I don't either." _lie_

"I mean, flying is nice but it's cold and uncomfortable not to mention rather dangerous sometimes for me and we're not in a hurry so we're not doing that. I'd kill for a horse, though. Or a mule. Some sort of pack rat to carry all my gear." _wink_

"Still no. I don't use half the stuff and you know it."

"You're semblance is… well it's actually kinda reasonable. You're shapeshifting isn't even that absurd compared to some stuff I've seen. It's just annoyingly useful. Why couldn't it be illusions or something useless in the wilds. Then I could paw some stuff onto you."

"Truly your motivations are pure."

"I'm so pure I'm practically a maiden."

"You still haven't told me why that's a pun. And I know it is somehow."

"And you still haven't told me about your shapeshifting powers. Or why you don't ever need to go to the bathroom."

"Touche. And I mimic most functions of faunus. I just block out some of them. Like a urinary system. And a functioning cardiovascular system. I don't need them."

"Hm. Fine. Don't tell me anything concrete then. Have you ever been to Vale?"

"No. I'd like to, though."

"Well we're going to forever fall by the way to Vale. The city. Just saying. It's a nice place. Hve fun there for your first time. Think of what you want to do."

"Forever fall? You mean the bleeding forest?"

"That's the creepy name for it! Use the nice one!"

"I flew over it once but I paid it no real mind."

"It's beautiful this time of year. It's supposedly horrible in spring because the snow makes it really misty. It's normally misty but the melting snow, not to mention the relatively cold weather makes it far worse. It would be so much better if it just evaporated but nope. The climate just leans towards creepiness."

"Walking through a forest with all the trees bleeding red sap that attracts grimm as you're surrounded by mist so thick you can't see two feet. And you say it doesn't deserve a name like the bleeding forest."

"It's not two feet! More like five. At worst. It's normally ten. This is only for early spring, though. It's nice and open normally. Now it should be more than fine."

"Are we passing through for the sap or the view?"

"Why do you think we brought jars? The sap is expensive. And delicious. I want to see if you like it more in grimm form than human form."

And so the conversations would continue as such for the majority of the hikes. When it began to get dark they would camp out in the forests with Laura's traps playing watch. Or Dexter if he didn't want to sleep.

An occasional red tree would remind them of forever fall but neither of them wanted to stop at the trees for sap. The best sap was supposedly at the center of the forest, which Laura charted for them to pass through.

As the day drew late the two would almost wordlessly find a camp to settle in. This day it was a forested area that was mostly normal. There was one lone red tree hiding behind a few others that was colored a blushing scarlet but the rest was boringly average of Vale with oak and maple trees surrounding a clearing. Dexter hung his hammock between two oaks to capitalize on their shade. Laura was cooking three squirrels she or Dexter had shot. They had challenged each other along the way to see who could shoot faster. It was mostly Laura but Dexter had far cleaner shots through the neck or eye compared to Laura's body shots.

Dexter was boredly practicing making bone spikes of varying forms come out of his palm or elbow. Laura had recommended Dexter get better at manipulating his body as a general. Since muscles and such had the least potential as far as the two knew Dexter was practicing at manipulating his bones on the fly. He could make his bone weapons in about half a second for any of them. A tenth for the throwing knives and arrows even though he couldn't throw or shoot that fast in the first place.

Normally he would be practicing his developing aura techniques but so far all he could do was violently project his aura externally. It worked as thrust for his lunges and was certainly useful but not as efficient as he'd like. Even for him it was rather draining to use repeatedly. He was getting better at it, though.

Laura finished with the squirrels and had set the last one aside. She stuffed them with raspberries and blackberries she and Dexter had passed earlier before throwing one at Dexter, keeping the other two for herself.

Dexter casually caught the skewer and bit into it with a satisfied smile. He wiped the berry juice off his chin and took a few more bite before tossing the sharpened stick aside. Laura was a good cook. She only made simple things like skewers and but they were satisfying at least.

Laura had also finished her first and was working on her second as she started walking over to Dexter. She had a sort of purposeful gait that meant that something important was about to happen.

Dexter got off his hammock with a groan. If they were having a serious talk it was easier done standing. Better to show respect that way, Dexter thought. Laura often seemed to agree with him through her actions.

"So… There's one thing we haven't discussed yet." Laura started with a frown. "Whether you're joining the war or not."

Dexter hadn't quite decided whether he wanted to join or not. It seemed risky and none of his business but he wasn't leaving Laura for the time being. He would easily admit that he was attached to her. He wasn't staying out of respect for her power or for the need to learn to fight better. He could fight very well right now. He was, according to Laura, a top tier hunter if he used his transformations. More upper middle otherwise. As a grimm he was faster and stronger than his faunus form. However, his faunus form was more versatile. It also had a ranged attack, which Dexter still couldn't pull off in his nevermoore form. He believed he never would.

"I haven't made a solid decision about whether to join or not." Dexter said honestly. "I want to stand by you but other than you there's no reason for me to join the war."

"Well that's not your only problem." Laura pointed out. "See, you're an unknown. If I claimed you as my apprentice which, lets be honest, you're really not, rather more like a travelling companion that learns from me, you would still have to be tested for a ranking. I'm pretty sure you're a B rank because you're pretty skilled and sneaky if you care to be. I'm an S ranker because I can cause mass destruction. Even so I'm more of a B ranked hunter so long as I don't use my powers. Which I don't much do. See, it goes like this. F, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and above though nobody has ever warranted a triple S ranking. The king's an SS. most powerful in the world and all. He's the first to hold the ranking since Gilla the great fifty nine years ago."

"I don't think anybody publicly holds the rank of S at the moment in Vale except the heads of the Arc and Kells clans. A's are all hunter clan heads like the head of the Lie clan guy you fought. They're pretty sparse in the world and don't really go out into real combat often. B's like you are like the elite of the clans, top dog hunters of the smaller towns without a clan in them, and the elite soldiers in the army. C's are your average hunters. The guys you normally see clearing out grimm. D's are crappy hunters that are still in their apprentice stages and all. Or just crappy hunters. F's are normal soldiers with aura. Then again, every soldier has aura these days. I think it's a requirement now."

"So basically I'm strong but not the best of the best." Dexter summarized.

"Like the top twenty or twenty five percent of professional hunters. You'd probably be in the upper parts of the B's so more like top ten or fifteen percent. I haven't kept up with how many A's and B's there are registered now though. I know that the numbers are skewed a little though. There are probably a few A ranks wandering the world. Maybe an S rank other than myself. Actually there are three others like me so there's three other potential S ranks. There's also plenty of freelance hunters from D's to B's. You can find them easily enough."

Dexter thought about that for a moment. He hadn't known about rankings for hunters. It made sense, though. A hierarchy made things nice and organized.

"Are the rankings like the hunter hierarchy or just combat strength.?"

"Combat strength. The rankings aren't the most accurate. You might just be plain unlucky when your ranking is assigned. You might have a really diverse skill set. You might focus on traps and tricks rather than straight up combat. There's a lot of inaccuracies when it comes to the rankings. Like you're nevermoore form. Hunters that can fly are really, and I mean REALLY rare. You're worth an A rank for that alone even if you're ranked as a B because of your combat skills. The special skills are sometimes taken into account but not always. For example, a D rank might be a lieutenant for Mantle commanding a group of C ranks because he's good at leadership and planning rather than fighting. It's pretty common. Rankings are used for reference generally. It's a system that needs to be updated but Vale just hasn't had it as a priority recently."

Dexter growled in irritation at such a system. He begrudgingly accepted that the system worked, though. As long as not everyone put a lot of faith in it it sort of worked, it seemed.

"So what does this have to do with me joining the war?"

"Ah, right. If you register and rank more than a B out of nowhere people are going to poke around you even if I vouch for you. You just kind of popped up, you know? People will expect a backstory of some sort as for where you got your skills. See, if people get suspicious the king might separate me from you since I'm… rather valued by the king. So… I've been thinking and I've got a few ideas but you definitely won't like them. At all."

"I'm not going to like this at all, will I?"

"First of all, you could masquerade as my pet dog or cat."

"Dust damnit, Laura."

"Secondly, you could pretend to be my husband. Or actually become my fiance, which might work, now that I think about it. People aren't going to drag us apart if they think I trust you that much, which I do. "

"Wait wha-"

"And lastly, you could just stalk me again. This is all assuming that you're just going to stubbornly stick to my like glue and not decide to suddenly become a farmer or something."

Dexter strived to show how annoyed he was at Laura with his eyes. He hid a small smirk when she squirmed uncomfortably. "So I can play fetch, marry you, or stalk you so I can put my life in danger. For you."

Laura faked an offended look and raised an eyebrow. "Decided to be a farmer? Maybe an artist? Become a poet and bemoan your incredibly beautiful love of your life, the fantabulous me? You've got the emo look down so that's a step in the right direction."

Dexter's irritation skyrocketed at that. "My choice to wear dull colors is for stealth and-"

"To let out that angry teenager you've never been able to express. I get that you never got to be angry at anyone. Don't worry. I won't judge. Verbally. Wait, is that why you're so scowly?!"

"Screw it! I'll be your pet cat so I can have some alone time and don't have to deal with your-"

"Nope! You're a pet dog. I want a pillow. No complaints."

"Get your own pillow Laura!"

"I am right now. With blackmail. Your fate to become my pillow is inescapable."

Laura smirked after poking fun at Dexter so much. His irritated look had turned murderous and his hand kept twitching towards his knife on his cloak.

"So what'll it be?"

Dexter shook his head a little and pushed thoughts of murdering Laura out of his mind. Being her pet would be a pain but she was a pain now as well… He would also get pets, which were oddly satisfying. Like someone scratching an itch he didn't know he had until they scratched it. Marrying Laura? It was… Oddly appealing. There were other ways of staying with her that didn't require her possibly compromising her future, though. And stalking her? It was more of a pain than just being her pet. So really there was only one option.

"Fine. I'll be your pet… Wolf."

"Heh. It was the petting, wasn't it? Don't worry. I'm a benevolent master… Um, Dexter? Could you… Put the knife down? Okay, I may have pushed you a little too- Agh! That stings! Okay! Sparring practice starts early, then!"


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: It's a bit shorter than usual. It's also not my finest chapter but it gets the job done. I'm starting to think that battles against big grimm aren't exciting unless I make them really unrealistic. Like running up a cliff with a nevermoore in a scythe only to behead it at the top. I prefer fight scenes between people. I think I'm going to be better at quick and brutal than long and dramatic. Believe me, fight scenes won't be the five chapter monsters some people like to write.**

 **Also sorry about the lateness. Sometimes (Often) I kind of suck at timeliness.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 9**

 **The forest**

The ground and sky were colored red. The grass was short and a rusty red. The leaves making a canopy overhead had light shine through them making them project a red glow onto the forest. If you looked you could see the veins of the leaves create shadowy lines onto the ground. An occasional forest creature would run through the canopy making a shadow dart across the ground.

Laura loved forever fall. To her it was a stark difference in scenery from the normally green. The red on the floor and sky creating a tunnel vision through the ash grey trunks almost like a painting. It was a scene of tranquility. A place untouched by the seasons. It truly was a place where fall reigned forever. She prefered spring more than fall but fall wasn't so bad.

Dexter hated forever fall. It felt dangerous to his instincts and he found himself tense throughout the walk through the forest. To him the color wasn't a red sunset. It was an ominous haze of rusty blood throughout the forest. The occasional cut on the trees bled the jelly like sap, which let a sickly sweet miasma pervade the forest. There was a beauty in it to be sure but it was not a place Dexter wanted to stay the night in. If the forest was foggy as well Dexter would have a heart attack. It was creepy enough in sunlight as it was. It had earned its name of the bleeding forest.

Neither of the two cared to share their opinions with each other. Laura was too entranced with the beauty of the forest and Dexter too tense from the ominous airs the forest had. The only sound the two of them allowed was the sound of their footsteps.

"Grrrr" A low growl rumbled behind them. Without hesitation Dexter formed a throwing knife in his hand and twirled around, a throw already in motion. The knife leapt from his hand straight into the eye of an ursa minor.

Laura hadn't even turned around. She knew Dexter would handle it. She instead listened intently for any more threats. Not hearing any she relaxed her guard and turned to Dexter, who had formed his bow just in case. She smiled at him in the hopes he's stop being so tense. Forever fall wasn't safe by any means but they could pretty easily handle anything short of a trio of Deathstalkers, in which case they'd run away and set some of their more deadly traps.

Dexter took notice of Laura's relaxed smile and he dissolved his bow and tried to relax himself a little more. It wasn't as though he knew of any threats in the forest. Humans weaker than the two passed through all the time. People lived near the forest without fear too. Being so tense was just straining. Still, though, Dexter wouldn't train his aura techniques for the walk. Only his enhancements, which were constantly in place anyways, would be in effect. Being on half a reserve would only make Dexter more tense.

With a glance between the two they set off once more through the forest. Dexter still kept an ear open just in case.

|-\\\/-|

Danna was uncertain. Trying to kill the spring maiden might be a bad idea. Just might. When she had caught wind of her being called to Vale she had been excited. This was her chance for power. For fame. She felt a little bad about taking a powerful warrior from Vale but she had no problem taking her place. She had hedged her bets on her passing through forever fall. It was beautiful this time of year, after all.

She had drawn an ursa to the maiden to check how alert she was. However, her… companion had dealt with it quickly. He had been alert. He hadn't seen Danna, but he was clearly expecting something to happen. She hadn't even seen him move when he killed the ursa. He had moved in a blur and there was a thunk and the ursa was dead instantly. It wasn't a powerful grimm but it wasn't something many could deal with so casually. It took a minute to deal with grimm like that.

In short, the companion to the maiden was alert and dangerous. The maiden was clearly confident in her companion and close to him. That smile she had shown him was genuine and relaxed at that. It was a smile that said to relax. It was a smile that said she trusted him. Being a maiden must really be nice if she could have a companion deal with her problems while she relaxed.

The reason Danna would continue on trying to kill the maiden was because she had a plan. The companion was clearly important to the maiden if she could show him such a smile. The two might even be lovers, actually. Such a beautiful smile and such trust were something most married couples didn't even have. Danna could also admit the companion was a looker too.

So she decided that capturing the bodyguard and holding him hostage would get her on negotiating grounds with the maiden. Her life for his. Or her power if it could be transferred. Danna had killed before, like most people had. She would prefer not to kill but if she had to she would without guilt. With the plan set she climbed to the overhead canopy and froze.

Very, very big. That was her first and last thought as Danna, a girl who dreamt of power and station, died. She died looking into the eyes of the alpha grimm of forever fall.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter was still tense. Even after making camp, even after patrolling the woods five times, even after putting an exorbitant amount of traps around the perimeter of their camp, and lethal traps at that, he was tense. What was making him tense wasn't the red bloody color of the leaves or the larger than average amount of grimm around the forest. It was his instincts telling him to fight something. The problem was that Dexter didn't know what he was supposed to fight. Yet his instincts urged him to do so.

He and Laura sat around the fire, which casted an orange glow around the camp. Laura finished her rations since neither of them felt like hunting for dinner. Dexter hadn't eaten. His eyes constantly scanned the treetops for something. With a sigh he got up again. "Again?" Laura asked. Dexter nodded. "I just don't feel safe here."

Dexter set out, his bow formed with an arrow nocked. He scanned the forest with a wary eye for anything. Still he saw nothing. A quarter mile from camp he started circling around the camp. A flicker of movement was in his peripheral vision and an arrow flew with a barely perceivable whistle. Dexter walked towards the grimm and frowned at another ursa. They were surprisingly common in the forest. Laura said it was because of the sap. It drew them more than any other grimm.

Dexter stood up and looked around. The ash grey trunks were shaded from the faint light of the moon but the leaves glowed just slightly. Enough for Laura to see them. Dexter saw fine with his vision but it was dim.

A scream. Dexter whirled around and ran towards the camp. Laura never screamed. He had only ever heard her when she was flying and he had messed with her. Dexter flew into the camp two minutes later with his bow ready. Three arrows in his right hand to shoot faster. His eyes scanned the camp quickly. Laura wasn't there. The fire was kicked over in it's pit. It was like Laura had kicked it running away from something.

Dexter approached the campfire cautiously. He kept his senses alert. There was no sound. He kneeled down and looked at the tracks. Laura had kicked off hard forward, tripping over the fire in the process. Behind her was… something. It had knife-like legs that sunk into the dirt like spears. What was disturbing was how many footsteps it had taken. Practically every inch of the ground behind Laura was another indent from a step. It crept over to Laura silently and Laura had leapt away when she noticed it. What it was, however, was a mystery.

Looking a bit further away, where Laura had landed, Dexter saw that she had immediately ran away after looking back. Why? What kind of grimm would scare her so much as to run? Dexter jogged a little to check the traps. They were all perfectly fine. Not a single one had been triggered.

With the confusing mystery to investigate Dexter followed the tracks Laura had left. It wasn't hard. They were fresh and Laura hadn't at all been trying to cover them. However, they disappeared not long after following them. How? Dexter thought frustratedly. How had they simply disappeared like that?

Suddenly Dexter's instincts roared at him to dodge something. He threw himself aside and a cloud of dust was where he just was. A giant centipede. Or a carnivorous millipede, specifically. It's legs were thin and narrowed to a spearlike tip. It's body was a half cylinder and covered in a chitinous armor on the outside. There were so many legs on it's lower side that it looked like it was wearing a skirt. They were armored at the limbs but unprotected at the joint. At the front was a beaklike muzzle of bone.

Dexter made a split second decision and switched to his sword. He changed most of his aura to flow towards his legs. He felt his arms grow weaker as his legs grew stronger. It wouldn't be an issue.

The millipede lunged with its front legs flailing in front of it. Dexter ran forward towards the millipedes right side. He slashed with his sword and the millipede screeched in pain. Dexter kept slashing as legs disconnected. Dexter's pants grew wet with ichor byb the time he ran the length of the millipede.

The bug raced forward and Dexter's eyes widened as it ran up a tree, it's legs driving into the tree yet not far enough to reach the sap. The night grew silent once more as the grimm fled into the canopy. Dexter couldn't even see it now. It was concealed by leaves not to mention pitch black.

A huffing sound drew Dexter's attention behind him. He looked behind him as Laura approached him. "I'll just say it now. You told me so." She said. Dexter didn't respond as he took a closer look at her. She had a wounded right shoulder. It was badly bruised but her aura seemed to have started healing it. Her cloak was tattered and torn badly. She would need a new one.

"It snuck up on me and attacked me. It mostly got my cloak tattered with it's legs but it hit my shoulder and breast. I couldn't break it's body armor with icicles and I couldn't hit it's legs with them either. It's also mostly fire resistant. It uses the trees to ambush."

Dexter nodded at the explanation. "I slashed its right side." "That explains why your cloak is so tattered, then." Dexter grabbed his cloak and inspected it at that. His cloak was tattered to pieces. It was shredded to ribbons. Feeling the back of his neck Dexter winced as he felt several long gashes. He could feel his back ache with several long gashes. Three, specifically. One down to his hip, one to his waist, and one short legs of the millipede weren't strong enough to pierce the thin plate of armor on his back in any other places. He channeled aura quickly to heal the wound. If the grimm appeared again he would prefer to fight than roll over and die. He kept his aura away from his clothes, though. Mending clothes right in front of Laura might be a bad idea.

"I'm fine. My back was slashed a little but it's mostly healed by now." Laura nodded. "We should get back to camp now." Dexter frowned at this but he couldn't think of any way to track the millipede grimm other than to let it come to them. Was there any way… The sap! Dexter smiled when he thought of the sap the trees had. It attracted grimm.

"We could lure it with the sap." Dexter suggested. Laura perked up and seemed to smile a little at that. A wicked gleam entered her eyes and Dexter knew that she was thinking about traps.

The trek back to camp was mostly filled with Dexter finishing up his healing and Laura chuckling to herself thinking of the traps to set in the treetops. As they got back Laura immediately went to start on the traps and Dexter dismantling the ones he had set below for parts.

Not long later there were an array of traps above. Branches sharpened to a point, some tripwires set to spring various goodies at the grimm, and a few others. Dexter was a bit annoyed that it was almost early morning by the time they finished but at least they had an edge in the upcoming fight. There was no way either of them were simply letting that grimm leave alive after attacking them.

Dexter looked to Laura for confirmation to start. She nodded seriously and Dexter plunged his bone knife clad with his aura into a large tree. Dexter saw the pinkish sap ooze out and he continued slashing the trunk a few more times.

With his work done Dexter retreated back to the center with his bow and sword ready. And so they waited. A few ursa and beowolves came, attracted by the sap. Dexter and Laura shot them down with icicles and arrows. One beowolf was an alpha.

Soon enough a crackle was heard by Dexter. Like a tree branch breaking. He swept his eyes over the canopy. A portion of the canopy was darker black than the others. He nudged Laura and pointed her to the grimm. "How did it get through the traps?" She hissed. Dexter shrugged. "On three?" Laura nodded with an annoyed scowl.

"One." Dexter nocked an arrow with two others ready.

"Two." Laura readied three icicle spears and rotated them rapidly.

"Three." Dexter released the arrow.

The arrow didn't even annoy the grimm. It did, however, get it's attention. It turned it's head towards the two and instantly regretted it as it lost it's two eyes. One lost to two arrows and the other having three ice spears lodged into it.

It screeched in pain and ran in a serpentine pattern towards Dexter and Laura. The two ran to the left and right of the beast. However, Dexter, on it's right, was kicked away by a leg. The millipede had learned. Laura sliced off a few but left after her sword was lodged in a leg. She freed it and retreated.

The millipede moved towards Dexter and lunged, it's legs stabbing furiously. Dexter dodged a few and slashed at the grimm's face. It bit his sword in two. Dexter decided to not be near the grimm's face after that.

Dexter readied his now reformed sword and backed off. He regrouped with Laura and looked towards the angry bug. "I don't think we're doing enough damage." Laura nodded. "We've gotten about a fifth of it's legs but… these runs are dangerous. We shouldn't do many more."

Dexter nodded and thought of how best to hurt the beast. "We need to attack the eyes." Laura looked at him irritatedly. "We did that." Dexter shook his head. "Not deep enough. We need to his it's brain. We could slash legs all night and not have killed the thing. We need a debilitating you ready a big ice spear?" Laura looked skeptical but nodded anyways.

"I'll distract it." Dexter said before jumping into the fray. The centipede attacked with it's front legs spearing at Dexter and it's mouth nipping at his upper body. Dexter diverted most of the spearing legs and dodged what he couldn't. He was getting close to Laura, though. "Are you ready yet?" Dexter called. He dodged a spear hit again. "Almost!" Laura called.

"You need to keep it still for a moment! I can't aim the icicle well." Dexter took a moment to look at the icicle Laura had prepared. It was huge. About half the size of a tree with a narrowed tip. It was more like a stake than an icicle but that certainly didn't make it less deadly.

Dexter barely even thought about it. He transformed to a beowolf. A large one. He slid to the beast's right side, where it had lost a few legs. Dexter tore the rest off but one shot out too fast and stuck itself in his shoulder. Dexter growled loudly and broke it off. He dug his claws into the underside of the centipede and heaved. For a few straining seconds the beast flailed it's legs on both sides. Dexter roared as the beast was held still in the front.

Dexter could see the stake rocked towards the beast with a spin. In a gory scene the stake burrowed into the beast's left eye. The force was so great that the centipede was pushed back a little. It went limp as it's brain was destroyed by the massive spike of ice. Smoke began rolling off of it as it died.

Dexter transformed back to human form as he staggered back. Laura came running to him and she, without a word, pulled the spear out of Dexter. As the spear came out Dexter channeled aura to the wound as fast as he was able. Within moments the wound was just a scar. Dexter could heal it more but he was tired right now. He could do more later.

As he looked at Laura he became confused. She seemed rather blurry. How odd. And his head felt heavy. Huh. Double odd. Dexter felt himself grow sleepy. Sleeping in Laura's arms was a pretty nice place to sleep, all things considered. His vision faded to black.

|-\\\/-|

Laura was concerned. Her companion was pretty injured. She didn't think he even notice how fast his blood came out when he was wounded this time. Not to mention how he had lost some before in his last encounter. However, some things felt odd to her.

First would be her partner's refusal to turn into anything not grimm related. It was an odd tendency but there were some more mundane forms that would be useful to him. Like horses. Or a housecat. Tiny lynx grimm didn't count. Nor were tiny beowolves puppies. Her partner could only transform into grimm with some exceptions to things like size and softness of his fur.

Secondly was how proficient he was with stealth and attacking with claws. He had practice. A LOT of practice fighting as a beowolf.

Third was how not a single person had seen or heard of him before she found him. She had checked extensively. There had not been a man named Dexter matching his description anywhere in any of the four kingdoms.

Fourth was what kind of faunus Dexter was. His ears were wolf-like but not a wolf's ears. She had seen wolves. These were different. They were beowolf ears. She had checked when he was close to her in beowolf form. There was no such thing as a grimm faunus. That was the stuff of bad campfire stories and the stupidest of racists.

Finally was his blood… it was just strange. It wasn't really… real. Not needed. Dexter sometimes would be struck in a spar and simply not notice his wounds. Blood would sometimes just not flow. Sometimes when she felt his pulse at night he didn't have one. It scared her.

Dexter had once told her that he was sent to wander by his mother. To become stronger. He hadn't been paying much attention to Laura at the time but she had remembered his words.

Laura wanted answers. Dexter was hiding even more than she was. What really struck her was that he didn't even seem interested in her secrets. It was almost heartwarming how much he trusted her. Laura tried to respond in kind and succeeded for the most part but she just sometimes doubted him.

Dexter was hiding something big. He wasn't a human. Or a faunus. Laura wasn't even sure he was a grimm.

What the hell was Dexter?

 **Omake: Testing the sap**

Dexter looked at the sap curiously. It smelled good but the taste was another matter. He had wondered what it would be like. He couldn't get drunk, he knew. Buzzed he could do. He could get that pleasant warm feeling that most get but truly drunk so that he alcohol impeded his motor skills or made him slur was beyond his capabilities for some reason. Perhaps it was his aura speeding up his metabolism. Dexter couldn't know for sure.

Dexter looked curiously at the purplish sap as it dripped from his fingers. It moved slowly. Cautiously Dexter tasted the sap on his fingers. His eyes widened.

|-\\\/-|

Laura looked with a deadpan at Dexter. He was laying ragdoll with his arms hanging out of his hammock. His right leg was also slipping out a little bit. Around him were five jars of sap now empty. She shook at her head at the scene. Dexter tilted his head a little to see Laura.

"Oh… Hey Laura." Dexter didn't quite slur his words. He said them slowly. It was like he was really drunk and trying to articulate his words in a sober fashion. Dexter wasn't drunk, though. Laura could see Dexter's pupils dilated rather than widened. He was also more in control of his motor functions.

"You know, Laura… You're pretty stupid." Laura's eyebrows moved up a little at that. "You don't even know about atoms." Laura sighed. "You see, the world is made of circles. Little happy positive circles and boring neutral circles. Around them are teeny negative circles floating around. They're pure evil as any college student can tell you."

Laura was certain Dexter was hallucinating. Dexter gave her a look she thought might have been judgemental if Dexter was lucid.

"I hope you feel less ignorant. I'm pretty sure you don't know pythagoras' theorem or anything. Remnant as a whole is pretty ignorant. Do you feel less ignorant?"

Laura's eye twitched.

"Do you even know what gravity is?"

Laura decided to demonstrate her knowledge of gravity by pushing Dexter out of his hammock. As predicted Dexter grunted as he face planted onto the ground. Laura then took over the hammock and left him on the ground.

"Who put the floor here? Was it the tiny circles?"


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Got the first official shipper for Dexter and Laura! That's one guy who really liked beauty and the beast as a kid. Well maybe.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 9**

 **The city**

" _Don't worry. I'm a benevolent master"_

Dexter thought of these words as he waited for his demise. It was only a few days ago that he was laying in the shade of trees. Only two days since he slayed monsters that would make any townsperson and many hunters tremble.

"He loves belly rubs. I hope you can give him plenty."

"Oh of course! It's not often that we get a tamed wolf. Huntsman trained animals are quite rare too. The children will love him since they often get too rough with the usual guests."

Not all threats could be fought against, though. Some could only be endured. Laura when she decides to play with her powers. The monthly hopeful assassins that would attack Laura. Wherever they came from… Laura's occasional drinking binges. These were all unavoidable annoyances but this…

"Ah… Oh! I'm afraid I have to go now. The time flew away from me."

"Of course. Come back later today. I'll make sure nothing too bad happens to him."

"Fluffy is… durable. It's fine to let the children go all out."

The gremlins hiding in the shadows whispered excitedly. They looked at him as a toy to be appraised… and broken.

"Have a nice meeting Laura! Kids! Let's all give our guest, Fluffy, a nice time. Oh, and because Miss Laura is so nice you can be as rough as you like."

The gremlins charged and Dexter, now the nigh powerless Fluffy once more, knew fear.

" _Don't worry. I'm a benevolent master"_

|-\\\/-|

"I really am sorry you know." Dexter refused to talk to his alpha. She had thrown him to those… _monsters_ and left him to the day care's owner and manager to therapy via bubble bath. Dexter had seen things no dog was meant to see and it was all Laura's fault. Amendments would have to be made through the pets Laura was giving him. Words were meaningless.

"At any rate I met with the king and he's sending us out as a sweeping crew in the eastern islands. We and three others will be operating in a group. They'll know about my powers and you'll be my pet dog. You'll be allowed to wander off and do whatever it is you do when I'm not around.

Dexter mostly practiced his abilities when Laura wasn't around. There wasn't much else to do. Not that he'd ever tell her that. She'd tease him with things like 'what would you do without me? Oh right. Nothing. Hehe'.

"You'll also get to be antisocial to everyone. Not that you wouldn't be introverted anyways. You will have to work well with the others in the team at least. We'll be leaving in about two days. I'll let you do whatever it is you want this time. Maybe you'd want to visit the children again?"

Dexter leveled a glare so fierce at Laura that most people would have ran in fear. Laura was already used to Dexter, though, so she just rolled her eyes.

"Don't act all butt hurt about the prank. You weren't hurt I know."

 _*Glare intensifies*_

"Fiiiine. Go and do your thing. We leave in a fortnight since I have to get a new cloak and get repairs on my rapier. If you're bored go stalk some poor hunters in training. They're in the western quarter. The militarized section. Prank them for me, would you? Some pocket change should be easy to get for you. Do your shopkeeper redemption scheme."

Dexter's glare softened. He sighed and got off of Laura's lap. He found that he was pretty good at the whole pet thing. He didn't do anything really different from usual other than get more pets and talk less, which was actually pleasant. Dexter enjoyed just watching people go about their lives, or as Laura called it when teasing him, his creepy stalker habits. Dexter called information gathering.

At any rate Dexter was going to take Laura's advice and gather information on the hunters in training. So Dexter shifted into a tiny nevermoore and flew to the western quarter.

|-\\\/-|

"HAH!" Darrian stomped on Hadrian's foot hard as he aimed to slash his chest. Hadrian hissed and gritted his teeth as he blocked. Darrian's sword got caught on Hadrian's crossguard and Hadrian took this opportunity to kick Darrian's chest. Or that's what would have happened if Darrian and Hadrian hadn't been off balance. Hadrian fell backwards with Darrian on top of him as both only had one foot on the ground.

"Darrian!" Darrian grimaced as the instructor Narcia called to him. "How many times have I got to tell you that you keep your feet on the ground knees bent at all times?! You're in basic training so you don't pull any fancy grapples or kicks without specialized training. Unless you're trying to start a brawl with the grimm by putting your foot in it's mouth."

Dexter snickered at the mock fight. If you could even call it that. He'd been watching the hunters for a good ten minutes and he was extremely unimpressed. Most of the students except for a select few were clearly professional cannon fodder. Perhaps it was a bit cruel even for Dexter to refer to these children not even through puberty cannon fodder but he wasn't wrong.

With a lazy gaze Dexter looked to the few students of promise. Most impressively was a boy about sixteen named Arnolander Winchester. He used a sort of fire battleaxe. Dexter wasn't sure how the weapon worked but Dexter was frankly not a weapons guy so he didn't bother understanding it. The axe was heavy too. It would dent weapons the other students had if he wasn't careful and Arnolander wasn't careful at all it seemed. The boy had a semblance too. He could adjust his weight according to his wishes. He was fond of making himself light and jumping into the air before rocketing back down like a meteor.

Second was a Petunia Florian. She was a lanky girl who used a staff with a hook at both ends. The hooks seemed retractable too. She had a sort of semblance to disorient enemies. It would make them nauseous and disoriented. It seemed to have various degrees of intensity based on the girl's irritation with her opponent. Needless to say she got irritated easily. With her semblance and weapon she took out most opponents by tripping the when they tried to attack her. They would be hit with a wave of nausea as they attacked and Petunia would take advantage of them and trip and disarm them. Heavy opponents like Winchester or opponents with sufficient willpower, also like Winchester, would power through it.

Thirdly was a girl named Ambrosia Descan. She fought with a blowpipe that she used to poison opponents. Dexter was worried that she was only using the non-lethal variants. Scary girl. Her semblance was some sort of single target short term memory loss… thing. Dexter would see her wave at an opponent and they would stop and look around confusedly for a moment before Ambrosia took them down.

Finally was a bored and rather lonely looking girl named Elisia who sat in the shadows of a corner. Everyone seemed to fear her the most for some reason. So much as to avoid her altogether. Winchester seemed to hold some sort of position of "top dog" but Elisia had the most respect. She hadn't been challenged, though.

Dexter would be scared of all the scary semblances if it wasn't for one thing.

Every student was unbearably slow, weak, or had some sort of obvious weakness. All of them were skilled and used their semblance, if they had one, creatively but that didn't mean anything if they couldn't be fast enough to do anything about their opponent. As they are Dexter could easily overwhelm any of the students with his pure physical prowess. If he could use his grimm forms he could take the whole classroom with relative ease judging from what he was seeing.

The only reason Dexter was still around the students was because of Elisia. He really wanted to know what made her so scary. Sparring class was almost over apparently and Dexter really wanted to know what it was that made her so scary to other students so he was considering doing something rash. He wanted to sneak down to Elisia and just ask her but that seemed like a very Laura thing to do… Although Dexter could easily run away from even the teachers. He had seen two teachers spar seriously and Dexter knew he could outrun or out-sneak them without much trouble. And it wasn't like anybody could track Dexter down. Hm. The Laura inside him whispered for him to do it whispering an end to the curiosity.

"So why is everybody afraid of you?" Elisia jumped and looked at Dexter, who was casually sitting next to her, with a look of some kind of apprehension, horror, and surprise. Dexter withheld a snicker.

"Wh-how-"

"I asked a question kid. I'd prefer an answer." Elisia cast an annoyed look towards Dexter.

"My semblance causes people to have to fight shadows that take power from my fears, which I've had a lot of. Most people avoid that kind of stuff."

Dexter snickered openly at that. "Like the monsters under your bed?"

"Don't piss off Charles. He gets finicky when people stand up to him." Elisia said seriously.

Dexter restrained his laugh to a chuckle. He didn't want to get caught, after all. "What's your relationship with your shadows?"

Elisia looked at Dexter with some confusion. "They're my worst fears. I'm afraid of them obviously."

"Well do you want to spar with me?" Dexter asked. He was curious and inner Laura was already out of her cage in his mind. He might as well go with it. Elisia looked at Dexter like he was an idiot.

"You want to fight literal nightmares." She said in a deadpan.

"How hard can it be?" Dexter dismissed. This was something to do at any rate. He was born from the woman who was a nightmare.

Elise sighed but got up anyways. "Well I might as well. Davis and Selice might crush you though. Be careful of the scythes." Dexter nodded.

"Excuse me Narcia?" Instructor Narcia, who had finished pestering the two average kids whose names Dexter had already forgotten, looked to Elisia with alarm. "Yes?" "I'd like to spar with… Wait, what's your name?" "Dexter."

Narcia groaned. "Could you sneaky types stop breaking in to stalk the students for just one day?" Dexter smiled just a little. How convenient that sneaky people snuck in already.

"We like the challenge."

"There's apparently not enough of one if everyone with two legs can just waltz in. Just get in the ring and get out."

Dexter walked calmly into the ring. Elisia strolled to the other side. "Ready?" She asked. Dexter just nodded. Elisia shrugged and took a deep breath. Strange portals of darkness appeared on the ground and seven strange creatures appeared. A sort of basilisk, a small beringel with spiked fists, a mantis, a deathstalker with three tails, an ethereal looking woman that floated in a dress, a frog, and a man with a scythe. They were all colored a dark purple and lacked any vivid features other than general armor and indents.

Dexter blinked for a second and looked to the shadow creatures. "So are they supposed to attack?" Elisia looked at the creatures confusedly. "Well-" The floating dress lady screeched and flew at Dexter with her arms spread. Dexter calmly made his bow and three arrows. He aimed at the figure and shot her with three arrows at once. She received all three to her face and screamed as she clawed at her eyes and dissipated into inky wisps that disappeared. Dexter quirked an eyebrow and looked at the rest who just milled around awkwardly.

"Elise I'm disappointed." Dexter sighed. Elise spluttered and gestured at her shadows. Everyone in the audience that had appeared looked at Dexter with either awe or amusement.

Dexter loaded an arrow and fired. He hit the mantis' right eye. Another. The mantis' left eye. Another. The man with a scythe got an arrow through his dominant hand.

By now the creatures had decided to fight Dexter. Maybe they thought he was a nightmare at first? Or maybe they wouldn't attack grimm? Or they believed him to be a superior predator? Dexter didn't know. He just fought the creatures. Dexter drew his knife and sidestepped a lunge from the basilisk. The mantis, now blinded, slashed in Dexter's direction, which halted the other creatures for fear of being slashed. Dexter hopped calmly to the mantis' front and slit it's throat. It dissipated soon after.

The scorpion was next. It approached Dexter and prepared it's tails. As they rained down on Dexter he sheathed his knife and drew his sabre. When a tail struck down Dexter slashed up, hitting around the joint by the stinger. Then for the second stinger. The deathstalker tried to retreat. Dexter jumped on top of the beast's carapace and hacked at the stinger for a second. It was removed soon after. Dexter jumped off as the deathstalker screeched.

The beringel and basilisk engaged Dexter. Dexter power slid between the beringel's legs and slashed at his leg. The beringel stomped and Dexter rolled away. The man with the scythe rushed at Dexter and whirled his scythe. Three throwing knives were released from Dexter and one was dodged, one was caught, and one landed itself in the man's right shoulder. The man retreated to the sidelines. What horrible pain resistance. Perhaps he was a coward.

Dexter leaped aside as the basilisk struck again. Dexter struck as it passed but the scales made the blow extremely shallow. The frog, which had been still this whole time, lashed out with it's tongue like a whip. A quick slash severed a majority of the beast's tongue.

As Dexter attacked the beringel he wondered how he students had trouble with the creatures. They lacked teamwork so much as to get in each other's way, they all possessed either obvious weak points or a lack of strength, and they weren't being assisted by Elisia, who was gawking on the sidelines.

Dexter finished his scuffle with the beringel with a hack through it's leg, which finally severed the appendage. The beringel collapsed and roared in fury and ran up it's back and slashed hard at the nape of its neck. The creature dissipated soon after.

In passing Dexter heard a student murmur "Bone weapons, a black cloak, consorts with nightmares and the cursed child, and can fight like a demon? Scary bastard." Dexter ignored him and the other students who nodded with him.

The frog, man, and basilisk seemed to have acquired some basic teamwork skills. That or common sense. All three attacked together. The frog whipped it's tongue around Dexter's sword and the other two attacked from the side. Dexter simply released his sword and made a new one and drew his knife. The knife stabbed into the basilisk's eye and the scythe of the man was parried as Dexter flipped backwards. Dexter once more drew his bow and arrows. Several shots were loaded at the same time as Dexter shot three arrows at one at the frog and one more at the man a moment later.

The man twirled his scythe in a circle with his left arm doing almost all the work due to his injured shoulder and hit the arrow out of the air. The frog jumped but one arrow lodged itself in it's torso. Dexter shot at it once more in the air and landed a deep and clean hit. The frog dissipated as it fell to the ground.

The basilisk, the most annoying enemy of all, struck at Dexter. Dexter didn't possess any weapons heavy enough to shatter the serpent's scales and he didn't care to slash at the creature until it bled out. So as the serpent lunged Dexter sidestepped and used it's momentum to throw it away. It landed with a satisfying faceplant in the dirt.

The scythe man seemed hesitant to approach Dexter on his own. He decided to approach, however, and stalked towards Dexter cautiously. Dexter walked casually towards the man. When the man lunged and sweeped at Dexter with his scythe Dexter hopped into the air and threw a throwing knife he'd formed in his sleeve during their approach. With no defense against the knife the man leaned right yet the knife landed in the man's left shoulder.

The man seemed to gasp and Dexter took his weakness to pain to dart forward with a throwing knife and lodge it deep in his throat. The man didn't even see it coming.

With the other combatants dead and gone Dexter looked towards the last enemy. The basilisk, who looked towards Dexter with rage in it's eyes. Dexter drew his bow and arrows and opted to send a flurry of arrows towards the creature's eyes and mouth. One arrow landed on the very outer edge of the beast's left eye but not very deeply. In the mouth, though, several arrows landed somewhat well. The beast hissed angrily. Dexter sighed. He knew what he had to do.

Dexter drew a new weapon. A halberd. He had no intention to refine it from anything other than a crude weapon. It was pure white and brittle with the only real weight being at the head. Really it was more like a savage warhammer in a vaguely halberd-esque shape. Dexter didn't care much.

As the snake struck once more (Dumb beast. How many times have you seen this tactic fail?) Dexter swung the war-halberd in an overhead strike. He timed it well. The weapon slammed down heavily on the beast's snout. Dexter drew his sword but, to his ire, he drew it incorrectly. It was more like a spike than a sword due to his blunder. No matter. Dexter plunged the spike-sword into the creature's eye. The basilisk thrashed as it became wispy. Dexter backed away, drew his bow once more, and took careful aim at the creature's remaining eye. A few well aimed arrows later and the basilisk died.

Looking around Dexter looked at the surprised expressions on people's faces. The students especially looked at Dexter in some fear. Elisia had an unreadable expression on her face now. She seemed to have schooled it from her earlier shock.

"What combat rank are you?" One of the instructors asked.

"B rank, roughly." Dexter replied.

"Bullshit!" The instructor yelled. "I'm a B rank and I've only ever beaten four of Elisia's creatures!"

"I was pretty well suited to these creatures." Dexter retorted. "Besides, they didn't want to attack at first. I really only had to defeat six creatures though how that ghostly woman could cause trouble is beyond me."

The instructor looked annoyed but he relented. Dexter didn't care to talk to anyone he didn't care about on his day off so he simply walked away from the students and faculty. Nobody stopped him.

"Oh, and Elisisa." Elisia tilted her head at Dexter. "Go make some friends."

Dexter walked out, feeling proud of his dramatic exit… _"Wait."_ Dexter thought. "What do I do now?" Dexter stopped in his tracks with a scowl. Sometimes it seemed like the hardest thing for him to do was entertain himself.

|-\\\/-|

"Laura." Laura growled at the invasive voice.

"What?"

"I beat up a student and now I'm bored." Laura stilled her temper. Maybe Dexter could help her out. Then she supposed she could help him out a bit.

Laura was currently working on her weapon. The repairs had gone well on her rapier and her cloak was being mended by a tailors shop she had stopped by so Laura started on something she had wanted for a long time. She was adding a mechanism for using dust with her rapier. With dust her maiden powers became easier to use, the dust taking some of the burden of using them off of her.

Additionally, she wanted a cover excuse for her maiden powers. The reason she had waited so long before adding dust to her arsenal was because dust was absurdly expensive. Using it in combat also took said expensive material in somewhat large quantities. It was a weapon only used by the rich or frivolous. Impractical and showy. Now with the war happening she could pretend to use dust and use her powers. Not that she could really use her powers often. Never needing to refill on dust would be suspicious.

Dexter looked at the blade for a minute. "Put a revolving chamber in the handle. Draw grooves down the blade with which to flow said dust. Ignite." Laura looked at the blade for a moment. The revolving chamber was easy. Drawing grooves in her weapon would be trivial for a blacksmith. Laura groaned and slumped over the table.

"You don't want to sleep, kill grimm, or do anything stressful, right?" Dexter nodded. "Read." Dexter looked at Laura with a considering gaze before turning and leaving without a word. Miserably Laura looked to her weapon. Oh the pains she had to go through to not just upgrade but maintain her weapons.

Dexter didn't do crap for his weapons. She had seen him use his knife to climb trees once. He had driven it into the tree deeply when he couldn't find a decent handhold so he drove his dagger into the bark to make one. Then he forgot about it and made a new one.

This was all done to put his hammock up on a higher part of the tree. He wanted to lay in the sunshine. Lazy arse. Laura wanted to be a lazy arse too. His hammock was divinely comfortable for some inexplicable reason. It also smelled great oddly enough. Sadly she had to maintain weapons like some sort of normal person. Pathetic.

Maybe Dexter could just make her bone weapons when they fought so she could be lazy like him. Mmm. That sounds nice.

|-\\\/-|

 _One type of grimm common to the eastern islands is the harpy. These grimm resemble haggard and short old ladies with wings. They are harmless on their own for the most part yet they are rarely alone. Harpies make nests on tall and rough hills or mountainous regions. These nests harbor the oldest harpy of the nest as a rule._

 _Sylvas are grimm that are semi-aquatic and snake-like. Their skin, however, it a leathery and smooth texture not unlike eel skin not to mention the uncommon pallor grey color unlike the common black and white of most grey. They are always poisonous of a paralytic or deadly nature. They hide in the shallow waters of ponds, rivers, and any freshwater source available. For their saltwater cousins see page 128._

At that last entry Dexter set the book aside onto the pile that had accumulated. Throughout the night Dexter had read in the bookstore despite it's closing. Dexter had simply hid from the owner and broken in with a bone lockpick. Then he'd read through the night. He'd covered grimm in the eastern islands, the culture of Mantle and Mistral, dust, hunter hierarchy, and government.

Human understanding of grimm was rather… off, however. Dragons were practically legendary to them yet Dexter had seem several in the dark lands his mother rules. Krakens as well were feared and of high repute. Humans had only observed the weaker ones, though. Dexter had seen an old Kraken once in passing. It was terrifyingly big. So big, in fact, that it couldn't actually leave the water. It would collapse onto itself. Even beowolves were misunderstood. They did not, in fact, attack villages alone. If a beowolf was seen alone it was a scout for a larger group and the larger group would investigate the dead scout as a whole. Leaving the lone beowolves alone was a safer and more efficient approach than kill on sight.

Aside from that annoyingly incorrect information Dexter had learned plenty. For example, Mantle was a military state. It's head was a primarch elected by vote from those of sufficient rank. Mistral was a religious kingdom. Rulers were selected by "Divine mandate" which was just a royal bloodline with religious meaning in Mistral's case. Vacuo and Vale were pretty similar in that they had a king elected by royal bloodlines. Dexter supposed Atlas had a stronger military and Mistral had a more devout populace in comparison to Vale and Vacuo. However, aside from the patriotism Valean citizens held Vale seemingly had more professional hunters in comparison to the other kingdoms. Vacuo seemingly got the short end of the stick but Dexter assumed they must have something that made them hold their own against the other kingdoms.

This information wasn't presently useful to Dexter but he supposed that if he was going to be fighting in a war he may as well know what he was fighting for. The ever present for Dexter now was…

What does he do now to avoid boredom?

|-\\\/-|

Dexter shook her shoulder. "Laura." Laura groaned and rolled over. Bad dogs should go away and let her sleep. "Laura wake up. I'm bored again." Laura blearily opened her eyes and murmured something. "What?" Dexter asked. "Going with me today." Dexter stopped for a moment. Wasn't he having the day to himself? Well… It wasn't like he had anything important to do.

 **Omake: Hammocks in odd places**

People pointed and whispered. Laura would normally have ignored this if it wasn't for where they were pointing, which was upwards.

Looking away from the abominable rations she was considering buying (Hardtack was NOT food!) Laura suppressed a snarl. A hammock was strung between the king's castle's highest tower and the monument to the sky, which was just a big pointy rock someone stuck a plaque on and named a monument. Nobody could be bothered to tear the old thing down.

Of course Dexter would do such a thing. Cheeky arse… she wanted in that hammock. The higher winds rocked the hammock without you having to push yourself.

Where did he even get rope that long?!


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Here you all go. Another chapter for another day…**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 11**

 **The mistake**

Dexter sat in the corner sharpening Laura's sword. She hadn't told him to do so but he had nothing else to do at the moment. He had meditated and taken a shower so that was his morning completed. Laura was taking a shower at the moment and Dexter was supposed to accompany her to wherever it was she was going. He knew she would sharpen her sword as soon as she got out. She always did whether it was dull or not. Sharpening it before her would ensure he got out of the inn faster to do whatever it was they were going to be doing.

With a creak the door opened with Laura fully dressed. She looked toward Dexter with her sword and walked over to him sharpening it. She plucked it out of his hands and took the whetstone too. "You bring the whetstone along the blade Dexter. You're also not doing it fast or hard enough." Laura demonstrated how to do it correctly and handed the stone and sword back to him. She walked over to her pack and rummaged through it as Dexter tried sharpening the sword the right way.

A moment later Laura had pocketed enough items that she was ready to go out. She was dressed in a yellowish cape finer than the rough travelling cloak she normally wore. It was wider in the front as well. It showed the brown clothes she wore underneath. The buckles were a polished silver.

"I didn't know you had nice clothes." Dexter observed. Laura smiled.

"I didn't know you had fashion sense."

"My cloak is far nicer than yours. Of course I have fashion sense." Laura snorted.

"You'd better dress up nicely today. That means don't hide in your cloak and wear something other than black." Dexter blinked and shifted uncomfortably. Laura stared at him.

"You do have something other than black, right?"

"I have white."

"That doesn't count. You can't pull that off." Dexter looked away, not wanting to meet Laura's accusing eyes.

"I suppose you can be excused for not having dress clothes. I only bought this yesterday, anyways." Dexter sighed in relief. "But you're still going to learn how to make a decent suit and nicer clothes. You can't just wear your cloak and armor all the time."

"I take the armor off sometimes!" Dexter protested

"And you have plain clothes underneath." Laura retorted. "Not good enough for days like today."

"What are we doing today anyways?" Dexter asked

"I'm going to show you how to act properly in front of the upper class." Laura smirked.

Dexter scowled. "I'm polite normally." Laura nodded at that.

"True. Still, though. Someday you're going to need to know how to talk to the nobility. Knowing etiquette seems useless. That's because it is. However, the nobles place a lot of emphasis on knowing this stuff. I don't want you to be caught with your pants down."

Dexter sighed knowing it was useless to resist. "To start with I'm going to show you greetings, formal gestures, cutlery arrangement, and dress code. Later tonight I'm going to bring you to a formal dinner to test you."

Dexter looked at her curiously. "Is there a formal dinner going on in the king's court tonight?" Laura grimaced.

"No, luckily. I'm taking you to a restaurant called the Valeause nox. It's fancy speak for valean night, which is also a type of wine sold only at this particular restaurant. It's high in alcohol and reportedly delicious. Now for starters we'll work on gestures… you know how to bow, right?" Dexter looked blankly at Laura. She looked tired already. Didn't she just wake up?

|-\\\/-|

 **Laura's POV**

Manners were not Dexter's strong suit. However, suits were certainly his strong suit. So-called 'common' courtesy did not apply to Dexter. You can not tell someone of high importance that he is "Wrongtastic" and you can not threaten a noble who has blackmail on you into silence… wait, could you? Gods! You could! Laura let a look of annoyance cross her face. This blunt application of common sense was irritatingly effective if only because Dexter was probably correct in most cases of this. Laura knew full well that Dexter could prove the "wrongtastic" noble wrong or at least avoid punishment (his tongue was a silver club she swore) and blackmail would likely work in his case. Dexter can be pretty scary if he tried. In fact, he could be even scarier if Laura taught him to glare properly… Oh no.

|-\\\/-|

 **Dexter's POV**

"Ahem… Dexter?" Dexter stopped memorizing the stitching of a so-called 'casual-formal' suit, which he hated because the oxymoron _suited_ (accidental pun) it perfectly. Normally he would respond but continue looking at the suit but this time he stopped because Laura sounded nervous of all things. "Yes?"

Laura looked at Dexter and grimaced. "Well as you might know you can be rather creepy or intimidating at times." Dexter nodded. He imagined the many ways he could destroy a town once. The street had cleared out quickly. Since then he tried hard to not think of townspeople as prey. He also held back his supposedly 'unnerving' and 'predatory' smirks in populated areas. Laura called them psychological warfare. Dexter didn't protest. Being more deadly was a good thing.

"Well I'm going to hate myself for this but I'm going to teach you how to be scary on a professional level." Dexter frowned at this.

"I thought I was supposed to look less intimidating. Why work to be more so?"

"When you said you could just intimidate people you quarrel with you made me think. See, you're _terrible_ with being nice or polite." Dexter nodded. He simply didn't like abiding by the meaningless rules of etiquette. He could try but he would inevitably forget due to its uselessness to him. "Well instead of convincing people I have a better idea. You have power and you're unnerving. Perhaps you would be better with coercion, that's intimidation to get what you want, than persuasion."

Intimidation… Dexter could do that. "I like this idea far more than traditional etiquette." Laura looked at Dexter regretfully. How curious.

"Alright. Let's start. One good starting point would be to keep all fear off your face." Dexter nodded. "Another good point would be to do that creepy smile you do. You've got that down to pat." Dexter nodded again. That was expected. "A few more tips. Whether you scowl, smirk, or look stoically at someone matters a lot. Everybody looks to facial expression for answers on mood and social positions and body language as a sort of secondary reference." Dexter thought about that for a moment. Body language says a lot, basically. "Especially the eyes." Laura said gravely. Dexter gave a puzzled expression. "You know how people can call eyes 'cold' or 'warm' or somesuch? Basically that's in your facial expression and, as I've found, mentality and practice." Dexter liked where this was going. "Look at your target as a bug and they become a bug, really. Look at them as prey and they become prey. And with you playing the predator…" Dexter understood this very well.

For a moment Dexter considered whether aura could help him with this as it seemingly did with everything. Perhaps if he cycled aura in his eyes, or better yet only one eye, he could make it glow like a grimm's and flare it to appear irritated. That also made it occur to him. His grimm instincts might be able to be sufficiently riled up to help him appear hostile to others by instinct. No time better to test these ideas.

Dexter channeled aura to his red eye in excessive amounts and focused on his grimm side. He then looked to Laura and thought of attacking her. Mauling her. Covering her in her own blood. _KILLING HER._

 _|-\\\/-|_

 _ **Laura's POV**_

Laura froze as an intense pressure came upon her. She knew the feeling well. It was the feeling of being hopelessly outmatched. Of being a predator before prey. Every muscle in her body tensed yet she couldn't move. Her breath stilled a moment before she hyperventilated. Her gaze unwillingly locked solely onto Dexter and she felt fear.

Dexter looked like a demon from hell. His red eye glowed an ominous bloody crimson filled with a storm of hatred and rage and every muscle in his body looked primed to attack her should she make the slightest move. His face was stoic, betraying his furious eyes. It was at that moment that Laura felt not fear but terror. Pure terror. It was the first time she had ever looked at Dexter as a monster. Her mind simply couldn't comprehend her fear and she felt her vision go black.

|-\\\/-|

 **Dexter's POV**

Dexter watched as Laura fell to the ground unconscious. He calmed his aura and returned it to cycling through his muscles. He disliked doing that technique. He couldn't deny it's effectiveness yet he was also nearly defenseless when doing it aside from the intimidation. He couldn't see through his red eye when it was glowing and most of his aura was focused in his eye so he was physically weaker than the norm. If an enemy could overcome the apparent intimidation of Dexter's glare they could most likely land a blow.

For the moment Dexter had to marvel at the scariness of his new technique. He had felt his grimm instincts influence him and guide him to appear intimidating. So long as he did not delve too deeply into his instincts to be lost in them he would naturally emit the natural hostility of the grimm with his posture. Additionally, Dexter had been slightly overwhelmed by his instincts when they were being focused on so some of his aura had leaked out through his eye with the murderous intent of his grimm-influenced emotions. The aura had influenced Laura, Dexter had noticed. He hadn't known that aura could have an empathetic effect. Then again aura did show different properties under intense emotion. It was well known that aura would naturally appear during intense emotional turmoil.

In simpler terms actively tapping into his grimm instincts made Dexter murdery. The murdery feeling was transmitted via his soul to the poor suckers on the receiving end. It also helped that he appeared naturally intimidating instinctually at the same time.

" _Now…"_ Dexter looked towards Laura's unconscious form. _"What do I do with you?"_ Dexter stood still for a moment. He walked over to Laura's pack and took out a canteen of water. He unscrewed the cap and walked towards Laura before splashing some on her.

*GASP* Laura sat upwards quickly before shaking her wet hair like a dog. She closed her eyes and brushed it off to the side of her head before wiping the water out of her eyes. She then glared at Dexter. Needless to say he was not impressed.

"You…" Laura trailed off and pressed her lips together. "You are one scary bastard when you want to be. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have nightmares after this." Dexter frowned. He hadn't meant to be that scary.

"Sorry." Laura shook her head. "It's not your fault. I told you to act intimidating so I can't be too mad. However… you can't be scary to any stuffy nobles."

"Why?" Dexter asked. Laura snickered.

"They'll crap their pants in terror."

|-\\\/-|

It was hours later that Dexter and Laura walked to the Valeause nox for dinner. The two of them had silently agreed to not talk of Dexter's intimidation technique at all. Dexter didn't want to have the conversation of how he was able to appear so naturally terrifying and he suspected Laura was scared of him. She had been glancing towards him somewhat fearfully for the whole day when she thought he wasn't looking.

It was Dexter's hope that he could work the issue out during dinner. It was a time when neither of them could escape and early enough that they could stop the memory from becoming a scar in their relationship.

So far both Dexter and Laura had kept their relationship honest (mostly) and blunt. Neither of the two cared to dance around issues and neither of the two had any issues to dance around. Until now. The uncomfortableness of the topic was bad but Dexter knew it was like ripping off a bandaid. It was painful but it had to happen. Hopefully his and Laura's relationship could come out stronger afterwards.

At the moment Dexter wore a plain suit with a white undershirt and tie. In actuality it was just extremely tanned grimm fur of a constant color and bone as soft as he could make it in the form of a basic suit and tie. It was rougher than most suits and if you looked very closely you might notice it was odd but at a look it was normal if rather plain.

The restaurant was fancy. Very fancy. It's tables were fitted with a white sheet on the patio, where Dexter and Laura were. There was also a trellis with a vibrant blanket of some sort of red flowers growing on it.

As soon as the duo sat down a waiter came by with a bottle of Valean night. He wordlessly poured it into the pre set wine glasses and left quickly.

"So how was your day Dexter?" Laura asked politely. Dexter frowned at that.

"Laura we were together the whole day. All we did was practice etiquette." Laura's eye twitched.

"That may be so but did you enjoy it?" Dexter rolled his eyes.

"No." Laura's eye twitched again.

"You're doing terribly with the manners portion so far."

"Wait we started?" Laura pinched her nose again. She's done that a lot today. Perhaps she woke up on the wrong side of the bed today?

"Dexter we started the test as soon as we walked in here."

"Oh." Laura picked up one of her tiny spoons and threw it at Dexter. Dexter moved his head a little and the spoon flew off the patio into the streets.

"..."

"..."

"You missed me."

Laura threw a tiny fork this time. 

Dexter snickered a little as Laura halfheartedly glared at him. "Adorable. Yet you don't realize I'm immune from exposure." Laura turned red with probably rage but took a few deep breaths and calmed herself.

"We're starting again now. So Dexter how was your day?" Dexter smiled at her like she was a rather stupid child.

"Laura we were together the whole day. All we did was practice etiquette." Laura froze and Dexter could practically hear the gears in her head work.

"You-you were messing with me. You knew you were being tested." Dexter could feel his smile become more condescending.

"Of course. I was testing your anger management skills. You've done terribly so far." Dexter dodged the knife and fork that mysteriously flew from Laura's hand towards him at high speed. "Do keep a hand on your silverware. Actually it might be better to not touch it since you keep dropping it towards me." Laura fumed angrily.

"Ass." She hissed. Dexter's condescending smile changed to a smirk.

"And yet you put up with me." Laura sighed and took a sip of water.

"Would you like to order now?" A nearby waiter asked.

"I'll have the… Calvrette." Laura said elegantly.

" _What the hell is a Calvrette?"_ Dexter wondered.

"And you, sir?" The waiter asked patiently. Dexter glanced over the menu and tried to find one he understood the name of. He failed.

"The calvrette please." The waiter casted a knowing look towards Dexter and shook his head a little. He walked off without a word. Laura rolled his eyes.

"Why did he do that?" Dexter wondered out loud.

"It's because you're a faunus." Laura stated. "No faunus are wealthy enough to come here so they expect you to know you're not allowed despite there being no actual rules to keep your kind out. They can't kick you out but that doesn't mean they like you. Besides…" Laura smiled a little. "What kind of idiot doesn't know what a calvrette is?"

Dexter scowled at Laura before taking a sip of water. Laura savored her small victory in their battle of words. Then Dexter realized something. "Laura you said you don't go to fancy conventions often right?" Laura snapped out of her victory induced trance.

"Yeah. They're normally populated by nobles trying to gain the king's favor or network. It's terribly dull and there's little to gain for me but to advertise my services as a huntress." Dexter's eyes gleamed.

"Then do you know what a calvrette is?" Laura froze. Luckily for her she was saved by the waiter. That was quick.

"Your calvrettes ma'am." Their waiter addressed curtly. Without a word he once again walked off. Both Laura and Dexter paled at the food on their plate. It was some sort of slushy sludge monster like gelatin yet it smelled salty and was topped with an exorbitant amount of pepper and it sat in what looked like olive oil.

"What the hell?" Dexter spoke out loud by accident. Laura blinked at the… food -if you could call it that- on her dish. Laura signalled at a waitress.

"Excuse me? What is this?" The waitress looked curiously at the sludge that Dexter feared might be sentient and blinked uncomprehendingly.

"That's the calvrette ma'am." Laura stared at her. She sighed irritably. "They're used with tobacco to give it a salty flavor. I don't know why you ordered two of them. The pepper is used to give the tobacco a kick. Some people feed them to their dogs. The dogs normally deny them. Perhaps your friend would like them?" The waitress jerked her head at Dexter who rolled his eyes and the waitress walked off.

Laura stared at the probably sentient sludge for a few seconds. She sighed and stood up before walking to Dexter's side of the table. She grabbed his neckline and vaulted the railing of the patio. Some of the customers of the restaurant exclaimed in surprise as Dexter was dragged over the edge. Laura released him as he fell and Dexter righted himself, landing on his feet. Laura walked somewhat fast away from the restaurant and Dexter followed even if he was confused.

One minute and a few alleys later Dexter walked into a little back alley park with Laura. Laura sat down on a bench and Dexter followed. He decided to break the silence. "You didn't know a calvrette was a rich person cigar thing did you?"

"Tobacco thing." Laura corrected without thinking. Then she thought about her words and sighed. "It doesn't matter. Sorry about trying to teach you manners. It's just not like you to be polite or twist your words."

"It's fine." Dexter dismissed. "I didn't have anything to do today and this was fun." Laura looked to Dexter incredulously.

"You consider this fun? Dining and dashing, learning about which tiny fork is for salads and which is for picking your nose, and learning how to bend over for some rich arse?" The sides of Dexter's mouth quirked up just a little.

"Laura yesterday I stalked a group of hunters in training, fought a group of children's nightmares, annoyed you, and spent a lion's share of the day reading books in a bookstore I broke into. I had a blast yesterday too. It was far more fun than trudging through a swamp or forest all day."

Laura smiled a little at that. "I had fun yesterday too. Nothing as exciting as fighting but I worked on my weapon, read a part of a novel, mended my cloak, and met with an old friend. It was nice… Although you annoyed me plenty I'll admit."

Dexter smiled. "I wouldn't have thought to do any of my activities if it wasn't for you giving me ideas. Even if today wasn't the most fun I got to see you embarrassed, see you angry, run from the constables, and learned a fantastic trick for scaring people." Laura's face darkened a little at the mention of the glare. Dexter noticed. Right, he shouldn't have brought that up.

"Look… I'm sorry about the glare." Laura looked as if to speak up but Dexter hurried on. "I know it was an accident but I shouldn't have used you as a test subject without putting thought into it. I know you technically gave me permission but you didn't know it was going to be so potent. I know you think I shouldn't apologize but the fact of the matter is I was careless and I scared you for it. Even after scaring you so badly I didn't even realize I scared you so badly until I saw all the glances you sent during my etiquette training. My first thought after you fainted was how I did what I did. Then I woke you up with water to the face. Perhaps you were fine but it was still insensitive of me. So I'm sorry."

Laura looked down and was silent for a moment. For a moment Dexter thought he had done something wrong. He sat there looking away at a tree with a swingset on it. As he looked back he felt Laura slam into him. He felt her arms wrap around him and he did the same practically by instinct. He sat there as his mind rebooted and he felt his fake shirt grow wet. Laura's body shook as she sobbed onto him.

"You-... You were so scary. I th-thought I was going to die." Dexter rubbed Laura's back in what he hoped was a soothing fashion. "I… I thought for a moment that-that you were a monster." Dexter felt a small pang of sadness go through him at that. He brushed it off quickly and refocused on Laura. "There was so much hate in your eyes Dexter! I thought to when you transform and… and I thought for a moment. I thought for a moment that you were a grimm. Not a man but a monster."

Dexter felt his mouth curve downwards worriedly. He repressed a snarl and angrily shoved away any thoughts he had. Laura was what mattered in that moment. Laura stopped talking and sobbed. Dexter held onto her for the whole time beating away any thoughts that tried to invade his head.

Laura's sniffling stilled for a moment and she was able to talk again. "I-I'm sorry. Please Dexter. Just tell me. You're you, right? You're not a monster?" Dexter hugged her closer.

"I'm me, Laura. I'm not some murderous monster." _'just a dangerous one'_ "You're safe."

Laura wiped her face and looked up to Dexter. "You're a man." She confirmed shakily.

"Yes." Dexter confirmed.

"Show me." Laura ordered. She backed away a few steps. Dexter looked around cautiously before taking a deep breath. He felt his flesh change familiarly as he became a beowolf. He was about to walk forward when - "No." Laura said. "I mean a monster."

Dexter thought for a moment when he thought he understood. He channeled his aura to his crimson eye and dipped just a little into his grimm instincts. He heard Laura's breath catch and he looked towards her. Her face was ashen and her red eyes had dilated pupils. How had he been so dense the first time?

Laura seemed to clench her teeth and straighten herself. She walked towards Dexter as he watched her hopefully. A few stumbling steps passed and Laura collapsed onto Dexter's fur. Laura gripped onto it and let out a stuttering breath. "Okay." Dexter took that as a signal to turn back and he shifted back into the form that was becoming more and more the norm for him with his comforting cloak over him once more. He looked at Laura and he cheered at the relief in her eyes. "Okay. Let's go back."

Silently Dexter and Laura walked back to the inn. Plenty of bystanders stared at Laura but she was too distressed to notice. Dexter recievel plenty of glares as people jumped to some sort of conclusions. The walk passed quickly though and Dexter barely noticed as he and Laura went into the inn.

Before Dexter walked over to his own bed Laura pulled him back by his shoulder a little. She grabbed her travelling cloak and set it by the corners of the cape to the window top. She sent some tiny icicles into the corners, effectively making it into a curtain.

Laura pushed Dexter down onto the bed. "You're my pillow for the night. Shift." Dexter rolled his eyes though inwards he didn't mind at all. He did so and laid by the head of the bed. Laura collapsed onto the bed and wrapped the sheets around herself before resting her head on him.

Laura fell asleep nearly instantly. Dexter was the same.

 **Omake:**

Dexter reached up and tentatively touched his ear. His faunus ear. He immediately recoiled and growled on reflex. Good thing Laura was gone.

Deciding to just go for it Dexter rested his hand on his ear and ignored the tingle. He tried a scratch and his willpower crumbled and he went limp with a groan of pleasure. Luckily he was laying in his hammock.

A few moments later he took back his mind from the pet and snarled. This was just embarrassing. But it was a weakness. It was a massive weak spot. If someone were to pet his ear or dust forbid ears he would be helpless.

At least Laura never figured it out…

A deep breath and he decided with an iron will that he was going to conquer this weakness. Dexter's hands rested on his scalp and he readied himself.

A quick motion and he was vigorously scratching behind his ears.

A shock of feeling assaulted Dexter's mind and he fought back! His mind was a fortress and it would hold strong!

For all of two seconds…

Dexter immediately gasped and fell into his hammock one more. Defeated by his own hand. Pathetic.

Well… His weaknesses could wait. He had to deal with a bigger matter. His leg had been thumping down whenever he scratched behind his ear and was currently half inside a tree.

Could this be weaponized?

 **AN: DRAMA! DRAMA OVER HERE! Now some of you might think "That came out of nowhere!" Well no it didn't. Grimm are the antithesis to mankind. Laura might be trusting of Dexter (he's had plenty of opportunities to kill her after all) but she's got common sense. Beowolves bad. Humans good. But real trust comes from hard moments like this.**

 **Also, if you remember in the bleedi- I mean… Forever fall - she saw Dexter's cloak repair itself. Semblances aren't active on their own. This means either Dexter is lying about his semblance, which is making stuff from his bones if you remember, or that he isn't human/faunus.**

 **She also knows it's not his shapeshifting. But he has a soul. So she doesn't know what he is. That does NOT inspire trust. That's been festering for a few days and then there's the glare incident which is sort of like a catalyst for her to finally show a crack in her trust. So yes there was a reason for the intensity of the emotions. It might not be apparently obvious to everyone but it's certainly been there.**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: One of the shorter interludes but plenty happened here. I'm sorry if the first scene offends anyone. You have been warned that it's offensive once now. Also, I'm sorry for the lateness. I just kind of suck at schedules.**

 **WARNING! CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENT. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED TWICE NOW.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 12**

 **The others**

The town of Brightbrook. It was a town located on the border of the eastern islands. The town was made rich from the industry provided by the abundant dust mines by the river. Sometimes the dust would leak into the river and townspeople would wonder at the river that seemed to be made of all the colors above and below. However… so would the neighboring town of Sayuri across the river.

Between these two villages Brightbrook was Valean and Sayuri was Mistralian. The river was considered by the kings to be the border of this particular island. This made problems occur.

Neither of the two towns could pan the river when a dust spill occured. This was profit floating down that neither of the two tons could touch because of border laws. In addition neither of the two towns could mine under the river, where a rich vein of water dust lay. Of course the towns were rich and fat from the quantity and quality of the dust they mined around the river yet still the two sides yearned for more wealth. More dust.

Not only was dust the deciding tension. Sayuri practiced slavery. Faunus slavery. Brightbrook children would watch as faunus laborers toiled under the sun by the waters and in great mining trenches. When the trenches occasionally flooded the water would rush in. If the water had dust in it some faunus could accidentally inhale some dust. Watching slaves die by dust consummation was something neither side wanted to see and yet Sayuri would continue to mine with slaves.

The negativity caused by the slaves and their harsh conditions would attract strong grimm to both Sayuri and Brightbrook. Nightly attacks were common on both sides. However, Brightbrook would be filled with miners tired from their day's labor and what guards the town provided from taxes that, while sizable, were not enough to completely prevent casualties. There was also a younger huntsman who would help when he could. Sayuri, with the extra profit from slaves, afforded not only guards but two fully fledged hunters as well. One huntsman and one huntress named Havar and Kierra. They were safe and fat from their slaves while the miners of Brightbrook could only weather their competitors' indirect attacks.

"This has to stop!" Roared a large muscular man. "The Missies know that we get their grimm attacks! They know the dust is wasted as well as well as do! Why can't they repay their slavery by letting us pan the river?!"

The townsmen cheered at that except for one short woman. "The Mistralians deal with attacks as well. They work hard to bring dust in as we do."

"Oh do they?" The muscular man mocked. "Then why do they let slaves toil at the banks in their trenches? Why do the Missies consort with the animals even for labor? Why do they have two huntsmen while we only have one?"

The townspeople were yelling their support now. "We aren't allowed slavery here, Ralph. We-"

"Of course we aren't allowed slavery! None of us would consort with the animals! What I'm suggesting is we go over there and kill the animals! They're dyin' anyways working away in their trenches. Why not take some of their dust while we're at it? After all the good folk of Brightbrook they've allowed to die for their slavery why shouldn't we be entitled to their profit?"

The short woman made to speak up but she couldn't speak over the roar of the crowd. Ralph could be heard though. "WE WORK LONG HOURS FOR OUR LABOR AND WE GET LESS THAN THEY DO! WHAT RIGHT DO THEY HAVE TO WORK THE ANIMALS? TO LIVE LIKE THEY'RE BETTER THAN US?!"

"I'll bet they're panning the river too!" Someone in the crowd called out. The crowd called their agreement.

"We should go over there and take for what blood they've spilled! Teller are you with us?!"

Teller, the local huntsman was in the crowd with a bloodthirsty grin on his face. "Hell yeah! With us together we'll take what we deserve!"

The short woman saw what was happening and stepped off the stage. She would have no part in this mess her fellow villagers would get into.

"Let's go give the Missies what they deserve!" The crowd, a bloodthirsty swarm of angry townspeople cried agreement with their mining tools collected and rushed to the river crossing with Ralph at the head. Mistralian guardsmen at the gate panicked at the sight of the mob and pounded to get inside. The guards inside were too paralysed by fear to open the door. As the crowd of Valean villagers swarmed and beat the guardsmen Ralph the young huntsman used his semblance, physical burst, which temporarily granted immense strength and stamina, to blow open the door to the town.

At the boom of the opened door the two huntsmen of Mistral came out of their homes armed for a large strike of grimm. When they saw the mob of more than a hundred villagers they froze in surprise and confusion. Tell rushed forward. In their surprised state Ralph was able to knock out Havar and subdue Kierra, their huntress.

"Stop! Why are you attacking?!" Kierra cried at the villagers. The crowd didn't respond. They were too frenzied to do so coherently. In groups the crowd rushed down the streets looking for dust or blood to spill. Ralph called them on, only increasing their bloodlust.

Teller calmed himself somewhat and looked at what he had done. He had knocked out one huntsman and had a huntress at his mercy. He looked to his fellow citizens and saw fires starting out on Mistralian homes. Had he really been that worked up?

Looking down again to the huntress he saw her crying out to him to stop. He looked back to the crowd for a moment and he realized that all the anger and hatred of his fellow villagers… It would attract grimm. The villages had no huntsmen or huntresses to defend it. Then he noticed that villagers were dragging women out of the houses and stripping them. Ralph was about to stop them but… then again… He looked to Kierra. She was rather pretty…

Ralph decided that he couldn't kill the grimm that were sure to come. He might as well enjoy himself. He dragged Kierra to the stables to his left and tore his clothes off along the way. She noticed halfway what was going on but Ralph's physical burst was still active. Not to mention she was out of aura. She stopped fighting after the first minute and was silent.

An eerie call came from the distance. Grimm. Only a few people survived the night in either of the few villages. Luckily Ralph was not one of them.

|-\\\/-|

"NO!" The god-king of Mistral roared in his office. Two villages ruined! Brightbrook he could care less about but Sayuri was a prime supplier of Dust for colonisation of the eastern islands! The more industrial villages needed that supply! Dust would be shipped overseas back towards Anima to be used in the blossoming industry starting there. The schematics he had negotiated from Atlas would be useless without the means to use them.

Fuming the king looked further through the reports. Both Brightbrook and Sayuri razed to the ground. Dust dumped in the river. Survivors don't know who started the fight. The only survivors were those who were asleep or otherwise occupied. All they know is that something chaotic happened to attract a horde of grimm into the area. They all fled after seeing the grimm. There were 8 survivors who fled to Mistral during the incident. 8 survivors out of a town bordering 500 people. Currently the survivors were staying with relatives in Mistral or their hometowns.

The king snarled as he leafed through the reports. He knew it was a bad idea to try to share the islands with Vale but he needed the dust from the islands and couldn't afford a war at the time. He still does need that dust but… After this, though, there were two outcomes. War or a cover up. Normally war would be inadvisable. Now, though, he wasn't really given much of a choice.

The king looked towards one more piece of paper on his desk. It was a letter. People had been handing them out in the streets. It detailed eyewitness reports of what had happened at Sayuri and Brightbrook. The whole thing was full of speculations and finger pointing at Vale. Seven people had barged in already and encouraged the king to start war with Vale. To show those heathens the proper way of life. The king was inclined to agree.

Mistral was on extremely good terms with Mantle right now. A little rolling over policy-wise and Mantle was happy. They helped to settle northern anima and Mistral sent food, weapons, and whatever else they needed. It may sound unfair but Mistral had been trying to settle northern anima for generations and yet it had never been done. For the first time in history anima was extending into the north and reaping the dust, gold, and silver of the mountains. Most of all, though, was the morale the settling provided. Plenty of people were singing the praises of Mistral across Anima. It was proof of the king being descended from a god in their eyes. That was more valuable than any settlement they had made.

Vale, though, was on extremely bad terms with Mistral. Slavery is bad is completely untrue. The suffering of some for the advancement of many was what the god-king thought. He truly didn't hate the faunus but they were necessary for the advancement of the world. Mantle was of a similar perspective.

With so many similarities it was no wonder that Mistral and Mantle were in an alliance.

Besides the reasons of economics and excuses there was also the hunter agreement. The agreement stipulated that with the exception of large scale combat huntsmen and huntresses were not allowed to kill soldiers or each other. War couldn't be done if humanity lost their protectors. It had plenty of stipulations such as what constituted as a major battle and what a huntsman really was but at it's core it kept huntsmen fighting the grimm rather than each other or normal soldiers.

Of course every kingdom broke the rules one way or another. Vale and Vacuo had spec-ops forces of hunters to commit stealth strikes against opposing kingdoms. Mistral used huntsmen to transport supplies mostly. No soldier wanted to attack a caravan when huntsmen are guarding it whether they're allowed to attack or not.

Vale had numerous huntsmen of quality yet it's standing army is rather weak. This makes it the perfect target for warfare from more prepared kingdoms such as Mantle and Mistral despite the ocean between them.

At the heart of the matter Mistral and Mantle needed dust. Dust Vale has. With such an excuse to war was there any wonder that the god-king should attack?

|-\\\/-|

The warrior king looked tiredly at the lady in front of him. He remembered when she was in her teens. Red hair and blue eyes like ice with mirth right before the surface. Now they were cooler with less innocence. Still, though, there was a happiness in them that he hadn't seen before. Perhaps Kat had managed to bed her? He knew Kat had shown a large amount of interest in bedding Laura though she had never realised. Or perhaps she simply didn't swing that way.

"You normally take more time to show up. What happened to 'Oh no! I will not be your pet bitch you ass'? Your words exactly." Laura rolled her eyes at him.

"Half the time you summon me it's because you want to show off a pretty lady that doesn't want into your trousers. Or manly skirts in your case." The king tsked at that. He should have never agreed with his tailor that day. Kilts were not in fashion despite what he had said. The fool had embarrassed him and been executed but the blow stayed.

"Besides," Laura continued. "This is actually important. I promised my services should something serious ever happen. If a war is truly going on then I gave my word to be there." The king frowned at that.

"I had thought you dead for the past four years. Why didn't you check in? You were supposed to do so bi-yearly."

Laura winced at that. "Well… You see… I, um, forgot. Sorry." The king slouched back a little in his uncomfortable chair.

"You forgot the literal only thing you were supposed to do as a citizen of the kingdom." Laura nodded a little bit. The king sighed.

"Where did you even get the money? Did Kat steal things for you?" Laura's face saddened. Oh no.

"Kat betrayed me sir. I woke up with a knife above me and I killed her."

For a moment the king stilled. Kat a traitor? She was one of his most loyal agents. She would do anything for the kingdom. For a moment he thought. Then it struck him. Kat would do anything for the kingdom. That includes kill the woman she loved for the power to better help the kingdom. Laura was more the wander and strike a deal kind of maiden than the hide in a city and train. Kat you idiot.

"I'm sorry." The king said. Laura nodded. For a moment neither of them talked as they descended into an awkward silence. The king broke it.

"Are you travelling alone now, then?" Laura glanced up to him.

"Well… I have a wolf named Dexter with me. I actually call him Fluffy since he seems to dislike the name. He's heterochromic with one red and one purple eye so he was kicked out of the pack he was born in. At least I'm pretty sure that's why he was exiled from his pack. I adopted him and trained him to he a huntsman hound. He's very good at it. On that note could I bring him to the war with me?"

The king blinked at that. He hadn't considered allowing a dog to Laura. He supposed it made sense. A dog would defend a master as loyally if not more loyally than any of his agents. Probably more, actually. Kat showed she was loyal to Vale above all rather than Laura. Besides that Laura never really was a social person. She preferred a more solitary existence than others, which served her well as a maiden. Her friends were few. A dog suited her perfectly. A wolf even more so. Same thing, really.

"I see no problem with that. However…" The king had intended to send her to the front lines where she could best use her powers for wide scale destruction. With a dog, though… Laura had seen a lot of loss. Losing yet another companion would be devastating in all likelihood. He had seen people break that way before. Not a pretty thing. If she had a dog she damn well would keep a dog.

"You won't be going into the front lines. You'll be going into a sweeping crew division. Cleaning up after people have done their deeds and killing all the grimm."

"I know what a sweeping crew is." She said tersely. "But why not the frontlines? Isn't that where I'd be the most effective?"

"The most effective maybe but not the most safe. I'd prefer to keep you as a sort of ace up my sleeve anyways. Unless Mistral reveals their maiden we'll keep you on standby. For this reason you'll be going with three companions in a standard huntsman setup despite your lack of formal training." Laura looked curiously at the king. He worried for a moment. He thought he sounded quite good with that lie. Telling her she was staying back because she might be mentally unstable if her dog dies would likely make her push harder to be on the frontlines. It would also irritate her. A scary Laura was a bad thing for everyone. A sad Laura just pissed him off.

Laura sighed slightly. "Alright… but can't we take it down to two guards?" The king rolled his eyes.

"No, Laura. And they're not guards. They're squadmates. Teammates." Laura rolled her eyes as she walked out the door. "I'll send you a mission dossier tomorrow!" The door shut. Well her belligerence was refreshing at least… and irritating.

The king sighed. Now where to send her? Ugh. Keeping maidens safe was always a pain in his royal ass. Laura Frost always seemed to leave a headache one way or another.

 **AN: Mistralian villages are typically a flower's name. Oniyuri, for example, means wealth, which is fitting since the village of Oniyuri was made by and for the wealthy. Sayuri, on the other hand, means hatred and revenge. I found it fitting since the villagers of Brightbrook were taking "revenge" on the village of Sayuri. I'll continue naming any Mistralian villages based on the flower language. The writers of RWBY do the same in every Mistralian village they make with the exception of Wind path and Mistral itself. So far as I've seen Valean villages take after plain and practical English names like Mountain glen and Patch. Mistralian villages take after romanized japanese flower language names like those I mentioned above. I don't know about Vacuo and Atlas/Mantle but if I have to make some villages for those two I'm planning on using romanized Arabic for Vacuo and possibly romanized Russian for Atlas. Like Vladvistok if that wasn't a city on earth already.**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Finally we're at the great war! Or at least the beginning of it. Now look here. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the war. Someone could make a whole story based on the great war. I'm not. This story is about Dexter and RWBY. This is not a story about the great war. This is about Dexter and the people close to him. This means that the war will have timeskips aplenty just like we've had so far with Laura. Then we have arc 2 which is STILL pre-canon not to mention all that happens between arc 1 and 2. The war is intended as a coming of age thing for Dexter. It's him growing up to a more mature person and fixing a lot of his issues as well as gaining a few more. At least I have a TON to look forward to.**

 **You'll also see here that there are a few people that you actually might recall here. You had that little cameo of Port's ancestor, the pastries guy and his wife if you recall, and a brief mention of a Winchester at Vale's huntsman school. This, though? This is an actual main set of character's coming on that you will all go 'OH I KNOW HIM!'. Well, his/her descendant anyways. You'll be seeing more of that later. It's going to be fun.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 13**

 **The squad**

"I'm telling you that this is the king's seal!"

"Isn't the king's seal the one with the axes-"

"No! That's the seal of the kingdom of Vale!"

"What's the difference?"

The stupid man got a fist to the face courtesy of Laura. Dexter smiled internally. It had been almost ten minutes of trying to get through the man's thick skull that they were supposed to be here.

It had taken two weeks of flying to get to the eastern islands. It would have been three but there had been serious tailwinds to Dexter's delight. At the moment he and Laura were at a military camp looking for passage across to the islands. Masquerading as a trained wolf was quite pleasurable really. He watched Laura do all the work and smiled as he took naps and was petted. This was the life his mother made him for originally and he was quite good at it. Not that there was much to be good at but still… It was fun.

"Miss what the hell are you doing?!" A military man in a dirty white shirt and brown pants strided over to the commotion.

"Dis bitcth hith meh offither Carenth!" The idiot soldier cried. The officer looked to him disdainfully.

"Go to Hopkins. Get that looked at. The soldier nodded with tears in his eyes as he waddled off. Why he was waddling nobody would ever know. He didn't have any leg injuries. Maybe he was just a big baby. That made sense to Dexter.

"And why are you-" The officer paused as he spied the insignia of the king on the letter in Laura's hand. "You're the huntress. The one we're supposed to allow transport, right?" Laura nodded and handed the letter to the man. The man looked over it quickly and handed it back. "Damn. Well alright then." He began walking away and signalled for Laura to follow with a wave of his hand. "Sorry about Farman. He's an idiot. Perfect for standing at a gate doing nothing while the good soldiers worry about training."

"It's no problem. I already gave him a bloody nose for wasting my time." The officer snickered at that.

"Trust me. He gets plenty of those around here. We have corporal Hopkins with us here to tend to any wounds. The man's got a healing semblance so he spends most of his time unlocking aura for people or healing them if he has to. He's been a boon."

"A healing semblance?!" Laura exclaimed. "And nobody's snatched him up yet?" The officer smirked.

"Someone did snatch him up. Me. Hopkins works the medical tent but technically speaking he's designated as my aide. I just happen to prefer him around the medical tent."

"And unlocking aura's? I thought that was a requirement for active duty. Not a thing to throw around." The officer saddened a little.

"I'd say that about a twentieth of the soldiers here have aura. Hopkins tries his best and I do what I can to unlock them because pretty soon most of the people here are going to be fighting. We can't unlock everyone's aura for just walking in a recruiting building. Nobody can just unlock auras one after another. Instead we try to get away with what we can and expect everyone with aura to fight just a little fiercer because of that. Technically Hopkins isn't even allowed to unlock auras. However, if it saves good soldiers we're willing to do some preemptive rule-abiding. It's not like Hopkins can get a license out here." Laura considered this but shrugged.

"Just don't tell any hunters what you're doing. There's plenty of rich and zealous huntsmen around that haven't even wandered out of a city's walls before. They're the ones that will come down on you for doing what you're doing." The officer smiled and nodded.

"I know. Thank you for your concern."

A few minutes later Laura and the officer arrived at a rather large tent with an odd emblem on it. Two crescent marks, one small than the other, were displayed on the top right of the tent flaps. On the top left was a red bull's face surrounded by Laurels. On the bottom left was a purple queen's head with a white crown on it. The bottom right corner of the flaps was empty. You could faintly hear arguing inside.

The officer groaned at the sound of arguing. "Look, I don't really get along with the faunus in there. I don't hate faunus but I don't want to associate with them. The other two are alright but the girl's standoffish. Still hotter than hell, though, which makes up for it. Anyways, you three leave tomorrow now that you're here. Thank you for freeing me from the three." The officer left at that without waiting for a response.

Laura stared at the symbols on the tent flaps while Dexter listened for what was going on inside. A feminine voice was heard first. "-m not going to ask again. Stop calling it a stick. It's a stave."

"That's a stave as much as a bird's a mouse. You didn't even pull the leaves off of it. It'll be a stave when you cut it but right now it's just a stick."

"Well I don't know how to carve. You'll have to do it."

"Make Joan do it. I'm trying to fix my tonfas here." An unassuming masculine voice came next.

"I'm not going to spend my time whittling a stick. Doesn't it work fine as it is?"

"The nubs get in the way of twirling it. It scratches my hands and makes my job harder. It has to be whittled."

Before Dexter could hear more Laura started walking again with a whisper of "Let's get this over with." Dexter trotted after her dutifully. It wasn't like there was much he could do otherwise. As they approached the tent Dexter could hear the conversation again.

"-s not going to be called nimrod! I respect my staves!"

"You respect them too much."

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I heard you crying after you broke the last one yesterday. You need to stop getting so attached to pieces of wood."

"It's not just pieces of wood! Don't belittle them like that!"

"Rella they're literally carved sticks. The only thing that makes them special is that you're using them. Even then they're fucking sticks Rella."

It was at that moment that Laura decided to walk in. "Please stop comparing sticks. My name's Laura Frost. I'm the last member and leader of your squad." Dexter snuck in after her and looked around the room. There were three people. Two of them sitting on seperate beds.

First was a young brown haired woman no more than thirty at the latest who wore a purple cape at her waist with a loose white blouse and striped black and purple stockings. Despite it's looseness it still displayed impressive assets. She had a stick resting on her lap. She was sitting on the floor unlike the other two.

Secondly was a blond boy just out of his teens laying on his stomach on one of the beds with a book propped for reading. He rested his chin on his hands. He wore a black long sleeved shirt with a gold symbol somewhat visible on the front. His trousers were also black, which made for an odd look. However there was also white plate armor with gold trimming resting under his bed. A sword was propped on the bed with a similar color scheme to the armor.

Finally was a scowling man sitting on his bed. His hair was a crimson red with black bull's horns coming out of his forehead. In front of him were two metal tonfas with a rubber grip. One of them had a plate unscrewed, showing circuitry hidden inside the weapon. An electrical dust crystal was removed from the base of the weapon. The man was dressed in a maroon trench coat, a red shirt embroidered with silver flames, and black dress pants.

The blond boy decided to start. "So you're the-" but the lady interrupted him.

"Do you know how to carve?" Laura rolled her eyes at the lady.

"Yes." The lady's eyes had a spark of hope in them.

"Could you please carve this stave-to-be for me? Neither of these two are willing to help me."

"I think you mean do it for you." The blond boy said snarkily. The lady glared at him. It wasn't very intimidating.

"Go ask one of the soldiers to teach you how to do it yourself. It's your weapon so you should do it yourself, shouldn't you? It's really not hard." Laura suggested. The red man scoffed at that.

"We've all told her that. She told us that she's tried to carve before and that she can't."

"That's ridiculous." Laura said with a frown. "Carving is easy. You just drive a knife up the outside layer at an angle."

"It can't be that easy." The lady muttered.

"Anyways. I've told you all who I am. You all are..."

"Mancer Taurus." Said the faunus.

"Joan Arc." said the blond man. He didn't even look up from his book.

"Rella Goodwitch." the lady murmured. She was looking at a knife and the stick like they were supposed to do something on their own. Or perhaps she thought she would gain a revelation.

"And this is Dexter." Laura said while scratching Dexter's ears. Dexter licked his lips and looked towards Mancer, who was looking at Dexter with interest. Joan glanced up from his book and smiled at Dexter before returning to his book. Rella glanced at Dexter before returning to her work with the stick. Everyone liked dogs it seems.

Laura walked to the unoccupied bed on her right and pushed her pack under her bed. "Should we bother to get to know each other?" She asked. Mancer nodded.

"We should at least try to know your fighting style and explain our own. It's what we're going to be doing for a while together so we might as well start now. Want me to go first?"

"Sure." Laura chirped. Joan didn't reply. Rella hummed an affirmative. Dexter barked softly for good measure. He was a part of the team too, after all. Mancer smiled at Dexter. What a nice guy.

"I'll start I suppose." Mancer said. "I fight close. I use my tonfas to shock things and beat them up at the same time. I aim more to cripple than kill. I leave the killing to people at range like Rella there." He waved at Rella. She ignored him for continuing to look at the knife and stick in confusion. "My semblance makes things explode. It runs off of aura as the ignition and physical energy as a fuel. If I get hit with blunt attacks I absorb some of the internal shockwaves for an explosion. It still hurts like a bitch to get hit though. I hit things with my tonfas to charge the semblance. The force of the tonfas hitting things goes two ways, you know. I use that energy to charge."

Joan sighed as he positioned himself with his book. Everyone paused for a moment as they looked towards him. Joan continued to read before noticing the silence. "Oh. My turn?" Everyone nodded. "Hmph. Well I fight up close with my sword and shield. Crocea mors." He patted the side of his bed, drawing attention to his armor and shield. "I seem a little young but I'm actually twenty six." Dexter couldn't express his surprise but Laura raised an eyebrow. "I distract things and take a shot at them when I can. I prefer to outlast opponents and bleed them out but I can do most things close quarters. And, despite the attire I'm really not that knightly or honorable. I keep shotguns, a type of close quarters gun from Mantle, in my gauntlets. Believe me when I say that I can play dirty. I don't know what my semblance is but most of my family have something along the lines of enhancing others with only a few exceptions."

Before anyone said anything else Rella started. "I mostly use my semblance in combat. It's called golem. Coined by yours truly. I can make golems and such from whatever's available. Earth, crystal, stone, and even flesh. Mostly I use dust to make energy golems though. Lightning dust to make lightning golems, fire dust to make fire golems, water dust to make water golems, and blah blah blah. Oh, and golems made with dust work far better than ones made from raw material. I need a staff to shape the golems and command them. That's why I make such a fuss over my staff. I can use my hands to shape and command but it's more difficult. Far more difficult. Maybe I could create a tiny army of clay soldiers given time. Just let me use a staff at any rate."

Everyone waited a moment for Laura. She looked thoughtful for a moment before starting. "I mostly use my rapier for combat." She pulled away her cloak to show her sword. Everyone leaned closer before Manus opened his mouth.

"Is that a rotating dust cylinder? And what about that release mechanism?" Laura grinned but said nothing.

"The dust I have on cycle right now is fire, earth, and lightning. Earth to strengthen the blade if need be, fire to heat up the blade, and lightning to shock things." Mancer looked interested in the blade with a small sad look at his tonfas. Like they were inadequate. Dexter thought the poor fellow was probably right. Joan expressed some interest. He actually put his book down and looked over to Laura to see what else she had to offer. Rella looked only momentarily interested before looking away.

"I'm pretty skilled with my rapier but not incredible." Dexter rolled his eyes at that. Laura wasn't a master but she was at least an expert in the blade. She could open a school for hunters with her experience and combat skill.

"Did your wolf just roll his eyes?" Joan asked in disbelief.

"He's smart like that." Laura said dismissively. Joan stared for a moment before grinning slightly.

"I like him. What did you say his name was?"

"Dexter." Mancer filled in.

"I'll remember that this time."

"Well anyways," Laura began. "My semblance is among the more powerful ones. I call it frozen. I can make ice stuff. It takes some aura but it's manageable for me after a lot of practice." Dexter looked towards Laura with narrowed eyes. That was not her semblance. Laura's semblance was sixth sense. It let her know when there was imminent danger so she could react to it… Oh. she planned to play her semblance off as experience and instincts and use her powers as her semblance. Smart move.

"I've spent a long time travelling around Vale so I know a lot about survival and travelling. I've also met a whole lot of different kinds of grimm so I can identify them pretty well."

"That won't be necessary." Rella spoke up. "I've spent many hours reading in several libraries on the types of grimm located on Sanus, Anima, and Mantle."

"Rella you do remember that book knowledge doesn't mean practical knowledge, right?" Joan said. Rella shrugged and went back to her work.

"This just leaves one person." Mancer started. Joan and Rella looked to him curiously. "Dexter." He explained. Everyone looked to Dexter. Even Laura. Dexter didn't know what to do so he just tilted his head to the right to show false confusion.

"Dexter can help out in combat if I ask." Laura started. Mancer and Joan both looked to Dexter excitedly at this. "Most of the time he prefers to ambush or stealthily take down his prey, though. He's also fantastic at tracking and following directions. Just remember that no matter how soft he is that he's still a wolf. He's a bit of an asshole if you don't respect him."

Mancer looked very interested in Dexter. His brown eyes burned with curiosity. Joan looked to Dexter in a similar yet less compassionate light. Rella looked between the two with confusion. "Why are you two so interested in Dexter?" She asked curiously. Joan and Mancer looked to her with surprise. Laura looked smug for some reason.

"Huntsman hounds are extremely rare." Joan started. Mancer went next.

"They're valued so much so because for animals to have aura is a one in a hundred possibility at most." Joan went again. "Huntsman hounds are also extremely skilled at what they do. I once heard of one that could track a deer a hundred miles away by scent alone." Once more he and Mancer switched off.

"Not to mention that they live an average of forty or so years, which is more than twice as long as most other dogs."

"Huntsmen dogs are pretty much a huntsman's best friend in fighting, tracking, hunting, and pretty much everything you could need. They're also known to make fantastic pillows when roughing it. That's what uncle Thaddeus said, anyways. He owns one."

Rella stared at the two after such a confusing show of synchronicity. "Did you two just say all of that is sync?"

"No!" The two said in sync. They both glared at each other to make their point.

Rella moved her attention from the two to Dexter and she smiled at him and gestured to come closer. Dexter didn't really mind so he walked over to her and let her pet him on the head. It was at that moment that Dexter decided that all dogs lived the good life.

"You're right." Rella mused. "He is soft." Joan looked on with interest and Mancer with a small degree of envy. He moved from his bed, leaving his tonfas, and decided to pet Dexter as well.

"Huh." He said. "He is really soft." Dexter currently wondered why he ever frowned on the fact that he had soft fur. Had he ever thought that? It was hard to think with so many pets. Oh well.

After a few seconds more Rella stopped petting and Mancer moved back to his bed. "Don't you all think we should spar to get a feel for each other's fighting style? Laura asked.

"Well… yeah. I suppose so." Joan said. It was clear he didn't really want to but knew they should.

"I don't care to either but we really need to." Rella stated. "Also I need to get this stave carved." Laura sighed.

"I'll do it. Just pay attention so you can do your own work next time."

"Thank you Laura."

|-\\\/-|

A few minutes later the five were standing at an empty field a ways off from the camp. "No dust, right?" Rella confirmed.

"Right." Laura punctuated the statement by clicking out the dust cylinder from her rapier and replacing it with a solid metal one to avoid damage to the grip. Joan took off his bracers on his armor and flicked two switches inside. Dexter could see a few mechanisms with a magazine. Mancer popped a hatch on his tonfas and two dust crystals came out. He placed them gently into two pouches on his belt. Rella took off a bandolier she out on earlier from her blouse.

"We can spar in full later but let's just do some quick exercises for now. Until about half aura. Joan and Mancer. Since I'll quickly be carving Rella's stave you two spar, alright?" The two men nodded and moved away from the two women. Laura drew a bone knife on her hip she pestered Dexter for earlier and took the stick from Rella. Before she started she looked to the two men. "Tournament rules. Fifty percent or subjugation. Go!"

With a sudden burst of speed the two fighters ran at each other. Mancer was faster than Joan since he was only wearing light leathers he kept hidden under his coat sleeves. Joan drew his sword as he ran and before meeting Mancer in the middle he sidestepped to the right and slashed. Mancer parried with one tonfa and attacked with another. Joan stepped back before stepping forwards once more and probing Mancer's defences with several strikes.

Mancer proved that he could easily use his tonfas for offence or defence in several different hand positions. He also changed hand positions quickly. One moment he would be using his tonfas as batons and the next the length would be guarding his forearms as ha blocked a strike.

Joan was equally impressive. His footwork especially was impeccable. He would move fluidly to dodge attacks as often as he would parry them. His foot would barely lift off the ground as he shifted his feet in an effort to move around Mancer's guard. Dexter had a nagging feeling about Joan's free hand, though. Joan didn't have the form to use his free hand for grappling nor did he appear to have a shield. Something seemed off about his sheathe though. Dexter didn't know what it was but it seemed familiar.

After a few seconds of engagement Joan made a serious move. Joan stepped in close enough for Manus to score a serious hit and Manus was suspicious. He didn't act fast enough, though. Joan dropped down and swept for Mancer's feet. At the same time Joan's blade swiped towards Mancer's abdomen. In response Mancer stepped back. It wasn't enough, though. Joan pushed off with his planted leg towards Mancer in a lunge as he reached towards his sheath. In a flash Joan's sheath transformed into a shield. Barroom rumors had whispered of weapons that transformed but seeing it in person was far more impressive to Dexter and Laura.

With his newfound lack of distance Joan bashed Mancer with his shield brutally. The attack was so powerful that it pushed Mancer back by nearly a foot. It also destabilized him. Joan pressed the advantage and with a double step forwards slashed quickly at Mancer. He was able to just barely parry the slash and, surprisingly, stepped into Joan's guard and punch Joan with his tonfas in the stomach. Joan hunched over slightly as he lashed out with a kick to give himself time to recover. It landed onto Mancer's side and pushed him back enough to allow Joan to hide behind his shield should he have to defend while he recovered from Mancer's blow. Mancer didn't attack and gave Joan a moment to collect himself as Mancer did the same from Joan's kick.

Dexter turned his attention from the two as he looked to Laura's carving. She worked quickly with strips coming off in spades. The outermost layer was already done so Laura was cutting at the edges to give Rella a bit more stable of a grip. Rella watched in fascination as Laura did her work.

Looking back to the fighters Joan was just finishing the round. He allowed Mancer a blow to his shoulder but in exchange he had batted aside Mancer's other tonfa in exchange for his shield and, in a cunning reverse grip of his sword to Mancer's throat. Joan also seems to have acquired a black eye at some point Dexter had looked away.

"Nice job Joan!" Rella called. "And Mancer! Once your attacks hit move fluidly to the next hit! We've worked on this!" Joan transformed his sheath and sheathed his sword again at his belt and Mancer stored his tonfas inside pockets of his coat. The two shook hands.

"She is right, you know." Joan commented.

"Shut up." Mancer growled. "If you weren't so damn sneaky it would be easier. Not to mention that I'm not supposed to chain attacks. I'm supposed to wait a moment for the electricity to move from the tonfas to the grimm or people I'm supposed to be fighting."

"Alright. Rella, you ready?" Rella stopped inspecting her staff and nodded. "I'll actually be fighting with Dexter. You'll be showing two golems of yours and pitting them against each other. Just don't use dust." Rella blinked. Joan quirked an eyebrow.

"You're kidding, right? I know Dexter's going to be useful in plenty of things but I don't expect much in actual combat." Laura shook her head.

"Dexter actually has a semblance." Everyone looked interested in this. Even Dexter. "He can change his body mass and shape a bit. He can't do it for long but he can grow to the size of an alpha beowolf last I checked." Joan, Mancer, and Rella looked to Dexter apprehensively. Dexter wagged his tail happily.

"That's one scary pillow." Mancer muttered. Laura snickered at Dexter a little.

"Well alright." Rella allowed. She moved her stave through odd motions and dirt rose up and compressed into a cohesive shape in front of her. Everyone watched in silence as she sculpted a dirt man with her stick. After a minute Rella appeared finished. She had made a rather good replica of Joan with a broadsword in hand. Everyone looked carefully as Rella tapped the Joan copy on the forehead with her stave and dirt Joan came alive. He looked like… Well like Joan but with less precise features. Like a statue of Joan, which he really was.

Rela moved onto a new creation and the others, including dirt Joan, followed. She began with eight pillars of dirt and constructed an abdomen. Two minutes later Joan was about to face off with a man-sized spider.

"Alright." Rella sighed. "Not my best work but given the materials that's expected. There's not much I can do with dirt other than statues. A fire golem might breathe fire and burn with it's attacks but dirt constructs just hit things. Now let's start, shall we?"

Without a word more the two constructs leapt at each other. Dirt Joan dodged a bite and hacked off a leg of the less dense spider construct and the spider continued without hesitation to attack dirt Joan. A leg later and dirt Joan lost a chunk of his shoulder. In his new crippled state the spider lunged and took off Joan's arm. Dirt Joan courageously -or more like emotionlessly- stabbed his dirt sword into the spider's abdomen. The spider's legs buckled as one-armed dirt Joan climbed onto the spider. He mounted the beast by the smaller portion of it's body and hs grabbed and pulled on one of the creature's fange until it dislodged. Without a change in features he repeatedly stabbed the creature with it's own fang until it died and fell apart into a pile of dirt. Throughout the whole fight the only sound had been the pounding of the constructs hitting each other. It was rather eerie.

"Creepy…" Joan muttered. Rella shrugged and with a weak slam of her staff into the ground dirt Joan fell apart into dirt once more.

"So that's that." Rella finished. "The more dense a construct is the faster and stronger it is. However, the more mass is involved with a creature the more aura it takes to use my semblance. I prefer constructs like dirt Joan over big constructs like the spider due to personal preference and battlefield maneuverability."

"Hm. Well that was pretty interesting though Joan was right. Watching the two silently and emotionlessly fight to the death was pretty creepy." Mancer, Joan, and Dexter all nodded along with Laura's words. Rella shrugged at them.

"Dexter. It's time." Dexter let loose a wolfish grin and felt his flesh stretch and bones crack as he increased his size a bit. No bone armor was added, though. Joan, Mancer, and Rella widened their eyes at Dexter's new size as Dexter backed off a little to show that he was still him. He doubted any of the three would attack but it never hurts to be safe.

Dexter walked away a little bit and tensed himself at Laura a ways away from him. She smirked as she readied several icicles behind her to be fired later. She also stretched a sheet of dense frost across the field in the hopes to affect Dexter's footing. He just lengthened his claws a little in response for better traction.

"Ready?" Joan called.

"Wait, can Dexter hold back in a spar?"

"Yup!" Laura called cheerily. "Dogs are smart."

"Well… Begin!"

At that call Dexter pumped large quantities into his leg muscles and rocketed off. He heard the peanut gallery cry out in surprise at his speed. Laura smirked and jumped as a pillar of ice rose under her. The pillar grew quickly as Laura shot several of her icicles at Dexter at high speeds. Dexter swerved to avoid them and used one of the techniques he had worked on for so long. Practically since he'd met Laura. He agitated a portion of the aura in his feet and, as he was jumping towards the top of the pillar where Laura stood, violently shoved the aura out to create thrust. It also had the byproduct of a small explosion being created from his feet. It was more force than anything and not useful in a fight but for movement it worked well due to Dexter's immense aura reserves. It had taken so long to get the move just right but he had finally gotten it after nine months of work.

As Dexter flew through the air Laura leapt back with a backflip and manipulated her ice pillar to grow somewhat taller and grow spikes. Dexter contorted in midair and landed onto a spike of the pillar with all four paws planted. Once more he used the technique to rocket towards Laura once more. This time Laura leapt back using the same technique and, when Dexter landed, she lunged forwards with a stab towards his eye. Normally Dexter would create an eyepatch of bone to deflect but Dexter couldn't do that this time. Instead he sidestepped left and lashed out with a vicious bite.

Laura laughed with a fierce look in her eye as she whipped her rapier around to parry on Dexter's teeth. She was knocked back as she took the attack. It actually dislocated her shoulder as she parried but Laura quickly set it back correctly in a practiced motion. Dislocated limbs and, in Dexter's case, lacerations, were common occurrences. Both of their auras were simply strong enough that even glancing blows could cause injury.

Dexter was too big to play nice yet he had no buffer than his extreme healing factor to rely on. In fact, both fighters were holding back at the moment. Laura was only using her ice and Dexter couldn't use his bone manipulation or his faunus form, which he had grown adept at using in combat. Despite the bestial strength granted by his large form he still had a lack of variety in his attacks. Against grimm and less experienced or strong fighters he would gladly use this form yet against Laura tha lack of variety was a handicap. At least he didn't have lightning bolts coming in from his blind spots this time. Laura's powers were scary.

Dexter decided that rather than draw the fight out he would rather try a technique he hadn't mastered yet. A large portion of his aura drew into his mouth. Roughly a fifth of his total aura focused around his throat through his channeling. Three large amounts also coalesced in his back legs. All three added up to only a tenth of his reserves. However he didn't use the deposits yet. He simply collected the large amount for later.

Laura saw the glow in Dexter's throat and let loose a bloodthirsty grin. Her eyes shined with the joy of a battle. She laughed and Dexter could see her soul heavily draw on her other soul. A cold pulse of power emanated from Laura such was the intensity of her power use. Her soul thrummed with energy. She was going to do something as well.

Dexter began a serpentine motion towards Laura that looked rather unsuited for a dog to do. There was no cover to use in the field, however, and Dexter wasn't just going to charge straight at her. He was bloodthirsty not frenzied.

Laura watched Dexter intensely as the power she drew on continued to grow in pulses. He could see that she couldn't actually contain it all. A thick frosty mist came into existence around her as she leaked some power.

Finally Dexter drew close enough to Laura to begin his plan. He unleashed one of the aura deposits in his legs and exploded forward in a lunge. Laura's grin grew and she slashed her sword letting a torrent of chaotic and unstable power loose in said slash. Dexter's eyes widened as he saw the slashes. Those would explode into ice if they hit him. Those were actually dangerous Laura! No matter. Dexter reached to the ground under the arc of power and used another deposit of aura to advance towards Laura. She clearly didn't expect him to go under it and so she twirled her rapier and sunk it into the ground. Much of the power she had gathered went into the ground to form a wall of ice in front of her.

Poor Laura. Dexter saw her form a word behind the wall. 'Shit'. Dexter let loose the large supply of aura in his throat as he came nearly into contact with the wall. The technique he was using here worked on the same principle as the explosive pushes he used for movement before. However this time it was to be used to push Laura back. Now that she had such a nice ice wall in front of him, though…

Dexter roared as the aura blasted into the wall. The brittle ice shattered and shards of ice flew back into Laura. Laura too went flying backwards from the blast of force. She raised her arms to defend herself from the shards as she corrected her flight instinctively. Dexter smiled as he saw her lose a large portion of the power she had collected in her lapse of concentration.

Dexter used his final deposit of aura as well as a push from his hind legs to fly at Laura in the hopes that the roar of force stunned her enough to allow a hit. For a moment as Laura tumbled Dexter was hopeful that she was disoriented enough to allow him to pin her but he realized that it was not the case.

Laura looked triumphantly at Dexter as she scrounged up what power remained and what aura she had collected far earlier to unleash a maelstrom of icy power. The power concentrated together into a wall of icy spikes. The spikes didn't really matter, though, as the wall had materialized around Dexter.

In other words, Dexter had been trapped in Laura's ice.

However Dexter's paws were just close enough to Laura to lightle flick her nose with his claws. "Ow!" Which he did. Dexter let loose a satisfied growl as Laura rubbed her nose. Wasn't he forgetting something?

Laura smiled as she looked towards him. "I win." Dexter was able to nod a little bit as she flexed her power in the ice a little to melt it a bit. She was almost out of aura, roughly at a quarter of what she normally has. Dexter was the same leaning towards the lower side of a quarter. The roar of power was quite strenuous on his reserves. The blasts weren't too consuming but using them at the intensity that he did was ill advised albeit fun. However Laura had won since she had subdued him first with no injury other than the temporarily dislocated limb and the annoyance of being pushed around a lot.

Laura walked up to Dexter as the ice melted to give him a hug. She often did that at the end of their near daily spars. She had started after that fishing village's festival of joy. Whatever they called it. Dexter had almost exclusively cared to remember his fight with Lie Yin and the old man. Fun times.

As Laura released him and he shrunk back to his new normal size he heard the source of what he had forgotten. "Holy shit! That was A rank stuff you were pulling out there!" Mancer shouted. He and the other two walked over to Dexter and Laura. Rella had an expression Dexter could only call flummoxed. Mancer looked excited and perhaps a little intimidated. Joan looked cautious and curious.

"I believe we said no dust allowed." Rella said with a disapproving frown.

"I didn't use dust. As I said, my semblance allows me to make and manipulate ice." Laura proved this by making a small shard of ice in her palm and tossing it to Rella, who discarded it after a slight inspection.

"How did you teach Dexter to control his aura so well?" Joan asked

"I showed him how I do it myself and coaxed him into doing it. It took about a year of work every day. He worked out the blast from his mouth on his own. I just wanted him to learn how to lunge better." Laura glanced at Dexter for the last part. He just sat there proudly. Working out how to do the roar had been difficult to do. It took some time and a lot of practice. Not to mention that he couldn't do it in populated areas. It was still a long ways away from complete, though. It was and is intended to be a long range beam attack made of aura for him to use when he's in nevermoore form. It hasn't been going well so far but as of the moment it's useful if incomplete.

"Regardless… That was terrifying." Mancer said plainly. Neither Joan nor Rella disagreed.

"Be thankful we're on the same side, then." Laura smiled.

"Yeah. I don't want to be on the receiving side of that grin you two had. Not to mention the cold you kept emanating from your semblance. I believe Joan's armor is still cold." Rella stated.

"It is." Joan held his fingers to the plate armor for a moment before removing them for emphasis.

"Poor Missies. The penguins will see you as a slice of home, though. They might just ask you to freeze them!" Mancer joked. Joan and Laura smiled a little at that.

"Sooo... " Mancer began. "What do we do with the mess you made?" He looked back to the now frozen over field. There was the spiky tower of ice still standing. A mist of cold was hanging around behind the ice wall. The shattered wall crumbled a little bit more as they all looked at it.

"I believe all these plants will die soon." Joan said in an amused tone.

"...Not it." Said Laura. Everyone looked to the others and decided silently and unanimously to deny ever being in the field.

|-\\\/-|

 **Omake: A soldier's alcohol**

"PLEASE! JUST A LITTLE!" The polite officer from before, whose name was Carence, hugged Laura's leg while begging. All the soldiers had seen the fight from the icy tower onwards. It was rather hard to miss. The reason he was hanging on, though…

"PLEASE! NO SOLDIER HAS HAD COLD MEAD IN WEEKS IF NOT MONTHS!"

"Why do you need your mead cold?! I'm not a refrigerator!"

"It tastes better cold! And you can serve your kingdom by fulfilling the noble purpose of making happy soldiers!"

"I'm not going to-"

"I, officer Carence of the Valean standing army, order you-"

"I'm not military! You can't order me to do a thing!"

"THE ALPHA CAMP OF EASTERN STRAIT NEEDS THIS, LAURA!"


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: So I received a review that Ozpin sounded like an idiot and that he's corrupted by power. Not the way I intended for him to be shown but yeah that shoe fits I guess. Ozpin is a king. A medieval king. The way I see it he's the most important man in the kingdom. If that tailor guy screwed up he shamed the most important man in the kingdom and allowed the nobles to make some gossip and whatnot. Ozpin can't just walk into the court looking like the court jester. Actually in a world where there's faunus slavery, damn near child soldiers, and dark beasts that roam the world spreading death and destruction a few people dying because they accidentally shamed the most important man in the kingdom is like a drop in the bucket here. Actually I expected more hate from the scene in the interlude. That scene. You know the one… unless you skipped it. Hm… oh well.**

 **I have a few grimm in here that aren't in canon RWBY. I didn't make them myself. I just scrolled through some fan made RWBY grimm on the internet. Oh, and if anyone cares to complain that I should only use the grimm from canon RWBY then I'll tell you right now that in the world of remnant shorts grimm were originally believed to be evil animal spirits. Not just wolf/elephant/bird/bear/whatever spirits but animal spirits. This makes me think that there are more types of grimm than just beowolves and creeps as canon fodder grimm. So I added a few non-canon ones to spice it up a little. It's just a personal preference for variety more than a big decision. Fighting beowolves all the time is boring anyways. Besides, some of the fan made grimm are pretty cool. The fiend was actually called a ghoul on the original picture but it just looked too much like a fiend from the witcher series for me to let it go. So if you want a picture of it search for ghoul, shrink it from the size in the picture (seriously? Building sized? The fan went a little overboard there), and use your imagination for the rest.**

 **Oh, and that guy that commented on my grammar twice? Yeah as it turns out he's just a hater. Man, it feels weird to have a guy that just wants to make me feel bad. I'm actually almost touched that he went to my story to be mean to me… oh well. Sure my grammar isn't amazing but it's fine for me. Knowing that the guy actually plain wanted me to feel bad. He's right about the dialogue thing though. I do suck on that. I'm making sure to change that whenever I make a new chapter to hide away and I'm working on not doing that. It's a terrible habit that I need to fix but…** _ **"**_ _ **I thought of copy pasting the mistakes in the reviews but you just make to many. This chapter? I'd have to do almost all of it."**_ **Yeah that confirmed it. He just doesn't like me. Even so, though, he is right. So I'll continue working on better formatting and grammar but I'm not going to stress about it. Hmm… I tend to do that a lot don't I? Oh well.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 14**

 **The glimpse**

"I hate boats." Laura stated.

"Uuuughh." Rella groaned.

"Are we there yet?" Joan asked. He was fine. Bastard…

"Just kill me now." Mancer mumbled.

Dexter just whined pitifully as Rella hugged him limply. Couldn't she see he was as miserable as her? Why was he her support?

On the sidelines the crew of sailors snickered at them. The captain of their small boat looked over the squad disapprovingly. "I have not once in my life seen hunters so easily beaten. I mean sure there's normally one passenger in a group that gets jelly legs but… even the dog? Really?"

"Wolf." Rella muttered halfheartedly. Dexter growled lightly in agreement. The captain shook his head once more.

"We'll be at the island in an hour. I'll have one of my crew get a wheelbarrow to cart you all off my ship. Try to vomit off the sides if you have to."

Nobody acknowledged the statement as they were all to sick to do so. Except Joan, who was just quiet and kind of a jerk at times. Dexter and Laura lamented that they couldn't fly. It was faster and less painful.

|-\\\/-|

After the horrible experience on the misery boat the squad landed at the bete camp of the eastern strait. Creative name, truly. Laura dismissed the squad and walked to the command tent to see where they were needed. Mancer went with Rella to the canteen for breakfast. Joan had eaten beforehand and went to find a quiet place to read. Dexter went with him. This lead to the current situation.

"How is it that you activate your semblance anyways?"

Dexter wasn't able to say anything so he just placed a paw on Joan's lap in support.

"I mean… a semblance isn't really a… it's not critically important, right?"

Dexter did his best to convey that it really was important and that Joan should try to find his. He really didn't succeed much.

"I've tried meditating, sparring, genuinely fighting, and a variety of mundane things but it just eludes me."

Dexter wondered when he became Joan's therapist. They'd only known each other for two days.

"...Maybe life or death situations?"

Dexter thought for a moment. That might actually work. Make Joan think he was in a life or death situation and the stress might activate his semblance… Was that how it worked? Dexter just went whoosh and it did the thing. Maybe others were different. Especially considering that most semblances were activated differently.

"Instead of a semblance I should probably learn some of those aura techniques you and Laura use so much."

Dexter thought that was a pretty good idea. Joan had a sizable amount of aura. The problem with aura techniques is that they weren't as efficient as semblances. Semblances were somewhat like the penultimate aura technique. They were efficient to the point of having no wasted aura whatsoever. They were also far more powerful. Even the strongest aura technique was maybe as powerful as the weakest semblance. But what aura techniques lacked in power they made up for in versatility. They were also pretty flashy most of the time disregarding internal techniques such as the channelling/enhancement everybody used.

"I'll ask Laura for some help and advice later."

Dexter rolled over onto his side and decided to take a short nap. There wasn't much else to do at the moment. Joan took that as his cue to get back to reading. Before nodding off Dexter took a look at the title of the book. _'On using aura physically - Techniques, properties of physical projection, and how to do so'._ Dexter wondered if he could snag that book sometime for himself.

|-\\\/-|

After Laura finished with the camp's commander she made her way around the camp rounding everyone up. She had gotten to Rella and Mancer first so they all tracked down Joan, who was in the forest outskirts of the camp doing drills with his sword and shield. Dexter rested hidden nearby reading Joan's book. He stopped reading as soon as the group entered the area and memorized his page number before putting the book back in its place and pretending to be sleeping.

"Joan! We've got a mission!" Laura called. Joan glanced over and stopped his drills.

"Now?" Laura nodded.

"There's going to be a skirmish to the northwest. A platoon of soldiers went off to occupy the Mistralian village of Shiragiku twenty miles away. We're supposed to go there and, when grimm come around because of the negativity from the attack, kill them. After the job we head further towards the forming front line near the middle of this island at cliff camp, which is roughly thirty miles east of the village. We'll stay there until we get another job. Simple stuff."

Joan and the others nodded. It seemed simple enough. "Is everybody ready to leave?" Laura asked. Joan spoke up first.

"Will we have horses?"

"The village and the platoon will have horses. If cavalrymen die and nobody needs them then we'll get their horses. If they do need horses then they keep them and we go on foot." Joan nodded at that.

"I've never ridden a horse before." Mancer said with a hint of interest. Joan decided to chime in.

"It's pretty easy stuff. They're generally smart enough to stick together and not run into anything so long as you keep them on the right track. It's staying calm that's the hardest part for beginners."

"So everyone is ready right now?" Laura asked. Everyone looked at one another and nobody spoke up. Rella, Mancer, and Laura already had their packs on and Joan waved towards his pack under a tree with his book. "Alright. We leave now then."

With that the squad set out to a road inside the camp. Nobody called to them for anything and a decorated man Dexter assumed was the camp officer waved to them as Laura walked off with the squad.

"Say Laura?" Rella asked.

"Hm?"

"What do you feed Dexter?"

"He feeds himself normally by catching a rabbit or occasionally a deer with me. We go hunting before we make camp every day."

"I had a dog back home. When we were young we were about to name him when my little sister came in asking if we had any muffins. We got it in our head between the dog's name and muffins that we were going to name him Muffins. It's stupid but it wasn't like anybody had anything better."

"I used to have a cat back home." Joan reminisced. "We never gave him a name. It was always 'cat'. Grandpa would yell 'Scram, cat!' and nobody ever felt he needed a name. We never really… 'got' him. We just left some chicken outside the family manor once and he just came wandering by. He ate the food and stuck around for leftovers. Eventually he got comfortable around us enough to let us mess with him and pet him and such."

"Was he a calico cat?" Mancer asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

Rella spoke up this time. "If your cat's a calico that means it's a girl."

"What?! Really?!"

Mancer smiled. "Uh huh."

"My grandpa's going to be cat is his drinking buddy."

"Did you ever have a pet, Mancer?" Rella asked.

"No. My family was poor. We couldn't have afforded one."

"That's a shame."

"I was on good terms with some stray dogs around the neighborhood, though. They're nice in the nicer months and if they're well fed."

" I wouldn't play with stray animals, Mancer." Joan warned. "They've got diseases."

"Yes dad." Mancer said sarcastically.

Dexter tuned out most of the conversation as he focused on smelling everything around him. The plants and animals were quite different on the islands than on Sanus.

For over an hour nothing of note occured. The group had made good progress on the road. Perhaps eight miles of road had been covered so far. That was when Dexter smelled something out of the ordinary. A smell like the ashes of a fireplace and a faint rusty smell of blood. In other words, grimm.

Dexter alerted everyone with a bark. Laura caught on quickly. She drew her bow and followed Dexter's eyes to the treeline, where one black and white form was approaching. One of the ones Dexter had read about. A ruinjaw. A grimm resembling a crocodile with no hind legs. Not dangerous to the group at all.

"Oh. Just an easy one." Joan said disappointedly. Mancer walked up to the grimm calmly. Laura boredly shot an arrow at it. It landed on the grimm's right leg. The grimm cried out as it fell from it's charge.

"Should I make a golem?" Rella questioned.

"No." Laura ordered. "It's easy enough to handle for anyone in the group." Laura landed another shot on the grimm's other leg right on the kneecap. The beast roared in pain. Not very loudly, though. It wasn't really made for roaring. Don't crocodile's hiss or something?

Mancer finally got close enough to the beast. He didn't bother to use dust and just sidestepped a snap from the beast's jaws and landed a few blows quickly on the creature's snout. In just a half a minute more of fighting the creature died.

"I thought they were more ambush predators than that." Joan said with a frown. Laura shrugged.

"Are there any more, Dexter?" Dexter sniffed the air. The nearest grimm were a few miles away in the wilderness. No reason to hunt them. To respond to Laura's question he walked further down the path. Laura sighed and began walking on with him.

"Good effort team. Truly required teamwork, skill, and wit." Joan said dryly. Mancer huffed and walked on without a word. Rella rolled her eyes at the group continued onwards.

"Maybe we can see a king taijutsu or something? I'd like a little action. Not life or death but… something." Joan muttered.

"We'll have plenty of action after the platoon attacks." Laura remarked. "Now what were we talking about?... Oh right! Joan, how have you never played chess even though you're rich?"

"I prefer shogi or go." He said uncaringly.

"As I was saying, chess is definitely better than shogi." Laura lectured

"Both of you are wrong. Card games are the best." Manus added.

|-\\\/-|

By nightfall the group had found the company. It wasn't very hard with Dexter's sense of smell and the fire's the platoon used for lighting. They were met with raised weapons and cautious looks. Laura took out a badge Dexter didn't know she had and flashed it at the soldiers. The men settled down but they kept an eye on the group. Mancer in particular. Dexter heard more than a few rough words about him.

After a moment of walking one large armored individual approached Laura. "You're the hunters the camp sent?" Laura nodded seriously. The man casted an eye over the group. He leveled a glare at Mancer but said nothing. "Well we were going to start tomorrow. That's when we were expecting you, ya see. We'll be starting in a few hours with you here early I suppose. If you need anything find first lieutenant Harold, my second in command. I'm captain Arman if you need me. Oh, and keep your animal on a leash."

Mancer held back a snarl but he could see the captain was offering a word of advice despite his crude words. It took a moment for Dexter to realize that the captain wasn't talking about him. Was it weird that the captain liked animals more than he liked faunus? It was kind of like a compliment in a twisted way then. Captain Arman turned around and started walking. "The hunters are here! We're going out to Shiragiku in two hours! Pack your bags, wake whoever's asleep, and put on your armor!"

Laura walked over to her right. Not knowing quite what to do everybody else followed her out of the camp. Laura stopped a little off the edge of camp and turned to brief everyone.

"You all heard the captain. Two hours of waiting then to Shiragiku. I know we could all use a rest but a nap won't do much good now. We're also all in our combat gear already. So… Anybody want to play chess? I've got a set."

"I've also got cards." Mancer smirked.

"Shut up Mancer."

|-\\\/-|

It was with a happy smile that Mancer packed the deck of cards back into the package. Joan wore a frustrated look while Laura had a small smile. Mancer had crushed Joan in poker while Laura had held her own. They had bet based on who would carry what tomorrow. Joan, having lost the worst, needed to carry the tents of Laura and Mancer. He also had to carry a few trinkets Mancer had brought with him. Rella hadn't played and instead read one of several books Joan had brought with him. Luckily for Dexter it was the one he had been reading before. He placed his head on Rella's lap and pretended that he wasn't reading while reading the pages he had read before again. Rella was a fast reader, though, and got to page sixty four. Dexter would have preferred to re-read a few paragraphs but Rella turned the page before he could do so. Oh well. Dexter already knew a sizable portion of what was explained anyways.

"Well that was terrible." Joan said sourly. Mancer laughed lightly. He was looking forward to an easy walk tomorrow.

"Terrible for you. You just didn't know when to fold." Joan glowered at the card set. Laura kept a soft smile on her face.

Rella noticed the activity now. "Time?" Joan nodded. With a small sigh Rella closed the book with a small dog-ear on her page.

"We can just leave our gear here… actually we should put it into the tree. Less chance of someone stealing it that way." With that said Laura showed some agility by swiftly climbing up the tree with her pack. She drew a branch through one of the straps and left it there.

"Well don't just stand there. Toss one up." At that Mancer grabbed one of the bags and threw it upwards. Laura caught it and did the same as she did for her pack. Pretty soon all of the packs were stored away and Laura hopped out of the tree. She drew her knife and made a large O on the tree. "An X is too cliche." She said to nobody in particular. Not that anyone cared much what the marking on the tree was.

"Alright. Let's go see the captain." She said. Not a minute later the squad went in to see the captain shouting orders.

"No! The dust goes away from the provisions with the firearms… Yes I'm certain!"

"Donny I swear you had better pack those bedrolls right. I know they can all fit since that's how they got here."

"Stop! Your sword is not a campfire spit! Why were you using it that way? Why not just use a stick?!"

After a moment he noticed the hunters arranged behind him. "Oh. Just finishing up. Shiragiku is a half mile that way so if you care to take a headstart we'll be there in about a half hour." The pointed north and Laura shrugged as she walked away.

Ten minutes of silent walking later and the squad was at a hill overlooking the town. It was large and built in a pseudo-traditional mistralian style. The houses used the slanted pointed roofs meeting in the center with an emphasis on height rather than width yet they were made of bricks and wood like traditional Valean houses. It was an interesting site with a cross between architecture and available materials mixing well. The wall surrounding the village looked far more akin to a Valean wall than a mistralian wall, however. A brick outer layer with climbable wooden scaffolding bracing the wall from inside the inside.

"I've never seen Mistralian architecture before." Mancer commented. "I like it, although it's clearly meant to be made from something other than wood and brick."

"It is nice." Laura agreed. "I think I can take this side of the village. Mancer you'll take the west side. Rella the east and Joan the north. I'm expecting this hill to be an issue so I'll stay here and shoot icicles and arrows where I can if there's no grimm. Dexter you should go with Mancer as backup. If he doesn't have any trouble then go to Rella for support. If Rella has no issues go to Joan though I doubt you'll have that little trouble." Dexter growled an affirmative to the orders while everybody else murmured something along the lines of 'Yes ma'am.'

"With that settled stay hidden, find a spot to settle into, keep civilians safe, and fend off the grimm. Arman didn't tell us how he was going to attack so be prepared."

Silently the group dispersed. Joan was surprisingly quiet in his armor and less shiny as well. He had rubbed dirt on it to get rid of the shine. Perhaps he would be able to show how bright he could be at a later date but not this time.

Rella strode off with a little sound but nothing too alerting. She also wore dark colors so it would be difficult for most to notice her.

Mancer was the loudest in his boots but he didn't let that deter him. He walked in a long arc to the opposite side of the villages and stayed in the darkness under the trees or behind bushes. Nobody would be out so late at night and any that were would be in a group with torches so there was little to worry about for him. Dexter was just plain silent along with his dark fur.

Mancer and Dexter found a quiet rock to sit on together as they waited for the attack. Neither of them spoke since both were on full alert for any sounds of fighting in case they missed anything. Dexter especially was paying attention with his more acute senses.

It was a boring twenty minutes later that something interesting finally happened. Yelling and the sound of steel clashing started coming from the village. Dexter growled and got up to listen for any grimm. Mancer got up as well and drew his tonfas warily.

A minute later a howl echoed through the forest and Dexter heard paws running to them at high speed. Dexter grew bigger as he crept into the underbrush. As soon as the creature passed by him Dexter swiped with his paw and heard a yelp as the grimm was caught unaware. The rest of the beowolf pack stopped and focused on the threat as Dexter finished off the one he had caught.

Several beowolves decided to rush in at once. Dexter slammed one to the ground with a paw and crunched down on the throat of the other. Mancer showed himself to deal with the third. As his baton made contact with the beowolf Dexter smelled burning and the beowolf began twitching with a yelp of pain.

The second baton came down hard and cracked the grimm's mask. The beast died soon after. The rest of the pack, six beowolves in all with one of them being an alpha, rushed at once. Dexter clawed viciously at three of the beasts and dodged one other. Mancer used some fancy footwork to land four blows in all on the creatures.

None of the beasts died but that wasn't a big problem. Dexter attacked this time. He mauled and clawed at five of the beasts and managed to crush the skulls of three due to his size and got the eye of another. He sustained a small scratch mark from the alpha, though. It healed in seconds.

Mancer dealt with the one beowolf he had engaged in the meantime and killed it with a shock to the brain. Dexter growled appreciatively at him.

The final two beowolves seemed hesitant to attack so Mancer took the opportunity. He dashed forwards with an overhead strike and clipped a beowolves' nose. The other lashed out but was sidestepped and struck several times. Dexter stepped in to take the grimm's throat in his jaws and kill it. Mancer swiftly dealt with the last lone beowolf.

Mancer took in a deep breath after the engagement. "That was easier that I thought it would be. Are there many more coming?" Dexter focused deeply on his senses and shook his head. There were four or six creeps approaching but Mancer could deal with them on his own rather easily.

"Good. Go support Rella, would you? If you think I'll be fine I trust your judgement. Just come back later to check on me, would you?" Dexter didn't respond but instead turned and started running to Rella on the east side. While running Dexter glanced to the village. It wasn't looking good. The village was bathed in an orange fiery glow. One of the houses was on fire. Steel clashing and cries of fear were heard in abundance.

As Dexter came into the clearing where Rella seemed to have waited he saw a troubling sight. Rella had taken a nasty blow to her side where her blouse was torn. In front of her was a group of bloodzealots. Reptilian-like quadrupedal grimm with poisonous bites and spines. They were native only to the eastern islands, luckily. They wouldn't be a big deal if there weren't twenty of them in front of Rella. There were also three golems Rella had made in front of her. A small dragon-looking one made out of fire, a brutish ape-like golem made of earth, and one curious shield bearing soldier made from wood.

Dexter leapt into the fray. He tore the spikes out of one of the zealots and clawed another's body. The spineless one died quickly while the mauled one bled purple and hissed. Four of the zealots immediately at Dexter in a frenzy and Dexter stepped back before clawing at the four. The zealots weren't very durable at all. One claw strike went straight through a zealot's neck while another was crippled with the loss of a leg. The other two escaped with shallow wounds.

"Dexter!" Rella called. "An alpha made it past me into the village! Would you go get it?" Dexter's eyes widened. An alpha would be bad. Very bad. He raced towards the village with a weak burst of aura to boost him. He slashed at a zealot as he ran. Within seconds Dexter spotted the alpha zealot. It was scrambling to climb the wall. A few soldiers were poking it back with spears but they seemed to annoy the beast more than anything.

Dexter approached the wall and leaped to the alpha. He sunk his claws into the grimm's back and pulled it down as it screeched in pain. Dexter's jaws sunk into the flailing beast's neck and Dexter shook his mouth around. The beast's neck cracked and it fell limp as it started turning to ashes.

"Umm… Thank you!" One town guard called awkwardly. He turned back towards the town center and rushed back into the fray. The others followed. Dexter didn't mind them much. He ran back to where Rella was fighting.

Rella was still against the tree where she was pinned before. One more golem, a spearman made of wood, had joined the fray. He and the shield bearer worked in tandem to fight against the zealots. The dragon seemed to be doing the most damage. It attacked without care for its own safety. Zealot limbs were sublimating to the ashen mist they always did.

Dexter flanked the remaining creatures and drove into their backs. Four died before any response could be made. Against the suicidal dragon's strength and Dexter's skill the zealots remaining were quickly disposed of. Dexter barked at Rella before running back towards the northern end. Rella nodded as she tended to her wound on her side.

Mancer, as Dexter found, was doing just fine. Around him were a multitude of creeps and a few beowolves. One zealot was sublimating with the corpses. Mancer seemed slightly tired but ultimately fine. Dexter stopped long enough to kill a few of the minor grimm he had been fighting against before barking at Mancer.

"Go check on Joan. I'll be fine." Mancer wheezed. He leaned against a tree, gasping air in the brief relief Dexter had provided him. Dexter wasted no time running to Joan. One burst of aura set him out with a quick boost as his paws slammed against the forest soil.

Dexter heard Joan before he saw him. A roar of anger from him and an opposing roar from some sort of grimm. Dexter raced into the clearing to see what he was working with.

Joan was fighting a fiend. Fiends were like a deer and an alpha beowolf had children and it got very big. It had disproportionately long and strong arms to its body with the forearm looking like nothing but tar covered bone. Bony spikes protruded from it's elbows.

Joan himself was in pretty bad shape. Not as bad as Rella was but not good. He looked tired and he had a few dents on his right shoulder that were from some grimm that came before him.

His eyes widened as the fiend swiped with it's long arms. He rolled out of the way under the strike while the fiend looked just plain disinterested. Dexter refrained from jumping into the fight and instead stalked around the beast. While doing so he was thinking _"This would be so much easier if I could use my sabre. Just hack off those arms and done."_

As the fiend struck a few more times Joan kept dodging. Dexter waved at him from his hiding spot and Joan only glanced at him before returning to dodging. Dexter continued his stalking.

A moment later Joan had led the grimm over near Dexter and was positioning it so it's back was exposed. _"Thank you Joan!"_ Dexter thought. Joan was just so useful. Maybe Dexter would help carry the tents tomorrow as thanks. First though…

Dexter leaped out with a burst of speed. The fiend heard the sound and turned with surprising speed yet he was not fast enough. Dexter funneled aura rapidly through his claws, making them sharper and harder than most natural materials. His claws actually gained a slight glowing from the amount of aura being channeled into them. He clawed, mauled, and bit the fiend's exposed back. The creature howled an unearthly sound. It reached onto it's back with it's long arms and a joint movement that for humans would not be possible. The beast gripped Dexter in it's large claws, scratching him in the process, and hurled him in front of it over Joan's head.

Dexter flew over Joan's head at high speed. His aura reflexively worked to heal the scratches the beast had inflicted on him. He slammed into a tree so hard the tree groaned and collapsed backwards. Not on Dexter luckily. Dexter just had several broken limbs and an out of place spine. Luckily his aura was already on it.

Joan was not idle during Dexter's flight. With the fiend's overextended arm from the throw Joan advanced on the weak forearm. He shifted his shield to a sheath and with two hands on his sword inflicted several vertical slashes on the beast. A cracking sound was heard as the black bone shattered under the blows. Joan shattered the other in two quick vertical hacks.

The fiend roared angrily and thrashed with it's remaining arm. Joan leapt back but the fiend, frenzied as it was, advanced with it's flailing arm. Joan, panicked, stumbled backwards and fell.

Dexter was mostly healed now though a good half of his ribs were still broken. He channeled aura to his legs once more as he ran towards Joan. But he wouldn't make it in time. Joan transformed his shield and raised it but he and Dexter knew it was futile. The beast's claw was too large and coming straight down on Joan too fast. It would pulverise him.

Dexter roared loudly. Joan was of his squad! He actually liked the guy, aloof as he is! Dexter focused on only one thing. Saving Joan. Something seemed to touch his soul. Dexter could feel his aura being depleted faster than normal but he could feel his aura being, for lack of a better word, supercharged. He directed the super aura to his legs and it instantly excited and exploded outwards violently. Dexter went towards Joan in a burst of speed far faster than normal.

Just before the fiend's arm pulverized Joan Dexter flew into him. He bit onto the protective armor of Joan's arms and used his momentum to pull Joan along with him. A snapping sound was heard from Joan's arm and he muffled a scream by biting his lip. It bled. He had glowed a bright white from his aura. Well, bright but faint in an odd fashion.

Dexter flew past the fiend with Joan in tow. He was just a little too fast and tumbled to the ground in a pile with Joan on him. Joan hissed as he felt his shoulder. His sword arm was more than dislocated. The muscle at the shoulder might have torn.

Joan looked towards Dexter, who could barely move due to his badly broken ribs. Given a few minutes he might be healed enough to run but right now they both knew they couldn't fight. Joan clumsily got to his feet. He had dropped crocea mors when Dexter had saved him. It was lying on the ground a ways away. The only problem was the fiend that was angrily looking at the two. It took a step forward menacingly.

Joan clenched his teeth and grabbed his shield. He readied it as best he could. Perhaps he could dodge well? His shaking legs said not.

Both Dexter and Joan looked to the fiend as it took another step towards the two. Before either of the two could do anything a massive spike of ice impaled the fiend. The beast was as surprised as they were. It looked down as it fell to the ground in a slump and began to disappear. Before it fully disappeared another smaller spike of ice tore through the back of it's head at high speed, coming out of it's left eye.

Dexter and and Joan looked at a very angry looking Laura as she stomped out from the trees. She looked, in other words, pissed. Dexter could tell from experience that it wasn't directed at him, though.

"That...FUCKER!" She yelled. "THAT SONOFABITCH AT THE BASE SAID THIS WAS A C RANK MISSION!"

Dexter's eyes widened. A C rank? A C ranked job would be taking out a few packs of bloodzealots. A C ranked job was supposed to be given to amateur huntsmen! With the fiend (A B ranked grimm), the pack, and dust knows WHAT Laura and Mancer have faced this was a B ranked mission! That they managed to finish the job at all was because Laura used her powers as a fake semblance. Joan would be dead if he hadn't found that semblance of his. Whatever it was it allowed Dexter to save him. Aura amplification, maybe. Dexter had felt a portion of his aura become at least three times as potent after Joan enhanced him.

Laura glared at a tree on her right as though it had assigned her the mission. If it was a man he would have some very messy pants.

"The town is occupied now, at least. Mancer and Rella are getting patched up. Mostly Rella. She took a nasty hit to her ribs. They're cracked. She'll be fine in a day. You two, though…" Laura glanced towards Joan's right arm. She groaned in annoyance. She strided towards them, picking up Crocea mors along the way.

"Yeah. That's bad. Ugh… Dexter?" Dexter looked at Laura curiously. "We'll probably have to show them the full depth of your abilities if we want everyone to get through this war alive. I didn't think it would be this bad but with grimm like the fiend coming out of hibernation this war is probably going to escalate fast. We should be prepared." Dexter growled and rested his head against the ground. He had thought that was going to happen.

Joan looked confused. "Wait… What? Dexter's already the second most powerful member of the team."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Dexter is better at stealth than anyone. The reason he got hurt this time was because he wasn't allowed to use the full breadth of his abilities. Believe me, Dexter is better suited for fighting in other ways than he is now."

That was true. Dexter could have killed that fiend far easier if he was in faunus form. His sword could, using his sabre, been chopped off easily. He was also faster as a faunus since he had less body mass then. His beowolf form may be the physically strongest, his nevermoore form the fastest, and his cat form the stealthiest, but Dexter was far better equipped as a faunus. His sword was sharper than claws, his hands and frame well suited for climbing in treetops, and he could simply pepper his prey with arrows or throwing knives should he need to. He was even approaching a somewhat adept level of swordsmanship when sparring. He was most suited for combat as a faunus. So that's what he would be to best help Laura.

 **|-\\\/-|**

 **Omake: The trials of Mancer and Laura**

Mancer casually slammed his tonfa into the jaw of another grimm. It died rather easily. He sighed and went to lean against the tree again. It had been… five? Ten? Minutes since Dexter left. There had been about three packs of grimm in groups of about five or six. Easy stuff. None of them took more than three minutes so Mancer was somewhat bored with how much waiting there was.

"I wonder how Joan's doing? Meh. The guy's stronger than I am. Or at least trickier. I'm sure he's fine. Besides, there's only these weak minor grimm. Simple stuff."

 **|-\\\/-|**

Laura sat against the rock she liked. Another pack of grimm appeared but she didn't even get up. She just shot a few icicles at them. The remaining members roared in rage and charged at her. She just shot more icicles. They died. She yawned in boredom. Maybe she should check on Joan or Rella? Nah. They were grown ups. Though Joan was pretty young looking. Hmph. Whatever. Dexter was probably laying in his hammock somewhere away from prying eyes… God she wanted that hammock so badly. The thing was heavenly. Oh there's another pack. *SHTICK* *SHTICK* *SHTICK* *YELP!* there. Being a maiden had its perks… what could she offer Dexter for his hammock?

 **AN: Shiragiku is the romanized word for chrysanthemum, which means truth in the language of flowers. I found it fitting given the ending.**

 **Secondly, Joan's newly discovered semblance. It's similar to Jaune's but not quite the same. Jaune's semblance, to my understanding, amplifies the healing part of his patient's aura. He could probably amplify the shields of people too if he tried. I think he did something of the sort unconsciously with his own aura in the Jaundice with Cardin. Joan's semblance is different. Joan makes an ally's or his own far more powerful but it burns itself away rapidly in exchange for this power. Of course, there's more on it next chapter. Mwahahaha...**

 **I decided that we need a list of all the forms Dexter has so far to not get anybody confused as well. To recap and elaborate on Dexter's shapeshifting ability he can change forms including limbs, body type, and body mass. Making a new form induces a discomfort but just changing the size of a form or changing a few little features is easy.**

 **Dexter doesn't know why he can shapeshift (I do though). He just does. He also can do a sort-of-shapeshifting where he forms his bone into weapons. Imagine the bone guys from Naruto but where they can change their flesh as well. Dexter is like if those guys were like that but to a much less impressive degree. He's not making any giant ribcages of bone anytime soon (*Naruto reference*)**

 **Beowolf form - Rather self explanatory. A beowolf. There's a few variations of this, though.**

 **Alpha beowolf form - Beowolf but bigger and with spikes. Dexter uses this form far more than his standard beowolf form.**

 **Wolf form - A wolf. That's it. He also became a big wolf this chapter aand last chapter but being an alpha beowolf is more the norm. I don't expect him to be a big wolf ever again.**

 **Giant nevermoore form - A nevermoore. A big one. He can't use the feathers since he doesn't know how to recreate that attack mechanism yet. Maybe he never will.**

 **Tiny nevermoore form - like a little crow with a beak of bone.**

 **Cat-like form - A sort of Jaguar/Lynx cross. A big cat form used for stealth. It would get destroyed if placed in combat. Other forms are capable of stealth but like this Dexter is at his sneakiest.**

 **Housecat form - A normal looking cat. Nothing suspicious here. Move on.**

 **Faunus form - A faunus with beowolf ears. Pale-ish skin too. I described him as somewhat handsome as well.**

 **He has a rapier, bow, throwing knives, arrows, and a knife. They're all made of his bone. Don't go thinking they're as hard as steel or anything. They're made of sharp, brittle bone. Steel is far better quality-wise. Without aura running through the bone they would crack and shatter easily.**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Uhm… so I missed yesterday. Sorry. BUT! I did post 200k words on that other rewrite of the rewrite of the gamer fic that I dropped a while ago. The comments are positive so far except that it got crazy. I kind of wanted that impression though. I'm going to be keeping with the schedule here though but I'll drop a second chapter here to make up for the day I missed.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 15**

 **The survivors**

"Got any… nine's?" Dexter asked.

"Go fish." Mancer said boredly.

It had been roughly two weeks since shiragiku was occupied by Vale. Nobody had any need of Laura or her squad in the meantime so the squad just waited for any orders to come in. A few messengers had run out to the other camps but nobody had any need of the squad for the moment. Any raiding parties had a squad of hunters already in the immediate area so the squad stayed in the town and helped with the fortifications.

"Any queens?"

Dexter tsked and passed a queen over to Mancer. He grinned victoriously despite that this was the third time they had played and he had won both other times.

After the battle Laura had introduced Dexter to the squad in truth and lied just a little bit. She said his semblance was more powerful than just size and extended to shapeshifting and using said shapeshifting to make bone weapons. They had been skeptical but nobody else had any better ideas as to how Dexter could make bone weapons and transform. It was a surprisingly easy transition to make.

"Any four's?"

"Yup. Here."

Joan said he had suspected Dexter was smarter than even huntsman hounds considering his experience with his uncle's hound. Mancer and Rella had been more along the expected reaction but they had calmed down after an hour or so. Dexter integrated with the group rather well all things considered. He played games, sparred a little, and loaned out his hammock when he wasn't using it. Joan especially grabbed the cloth whenever he could to Laura's annoyance.

"And that's the game." Dexter called. He looked at the table and compared his pitiful five pairs to Mancer's nineteen. "How are you so good at this?" He wondered.

"I learned to lie well when I lived poor." Mancer explained. Dexter narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Go fish doesn't have anything to do with lying…" Mancer froze and laughed nervously. Dexter grabbed the three favor slips he had and pushed them over to Mancer. The favor slips were Rella's idea. To keep track of who does what the slips would rotate people once per day and were betted about with card games and the like.

Currently Dexter had 'make dinner', 'check supplies', and 'take order from Laura' in his hand. Now, though, Mancer had three new responsibilities to take care of. He sighed sadly at the work he had to do.

"Play go fish with Joan. He has the laundry card and the grocery card. You know he hates laundry. Give him the dinner card and I'll never talk." Dexter advised. Joan made the best dinner in the squad. For some reason Joan was the best at every chore. He could find the best groceries, clean laundry the best, and was generally the perfect errand boy. It was by unanimous agreement (sans Joan) that everybody gave him the important chores. Mostly by cheating as a group. It was a good team bonding exercise.

"Do you want to spar later?" Mancer asked. "You know Joan wants a rematch. Again." Dexter frowned. After sparring with Dexter for the first time (and getting curb-stomped) Joan grew excited with learning to fight like Dexter. Dexter used his sabre with a free hand for throwing knives, grappling, or more recently to use his knife for sneak attacks from the side. Pretty soon Dexter wanted to get an aura technique or two with his style as well.

Joan had a similar style. Use his sword with both hands for a time before taking his shield out and taking a more defensive posture. If in a real fight he would also use the dust shotguns hidden in his gauntlets. He hadn't been able to use them against the fiend from before, though. He had already used all the ammo against it and some other grimm earlier on. He also wanted more ammunition for his gauntlets before he started using them extensively so for the moment it was emergency use only. It was hard to get ammo on the frontier settlements.

He thought that by sparring with Dexter he'd be more capable with his sword alone as well as sneakier. His first fight with Dexter had been so short lived it was almost comical. He had charged Dexter and Dexter batted his sword away, grabbed his arm, pulled him towards him, and tripped him. Joan ended up sprawled on the ground with an arrow pointed towards his face. He had practically begged Dexter to teach some of his tricks. Dexter didn't want a student so he suggested spars.

Now Joan wanted to spar. All the time. Dexter may have nigh-infinite stamina as a creature of grimm at his core but his patience with Joan was less infinite to say the least. Joan had expressed interest in learning aura techniques as well at least so Dexter normally showed him one and threw him away for independent practice before hiding in his hammock somewhere.

Joan's interest was… "actually really damn smart", as Mancer put it. Joan's semblance 'supercharged' aura. It worked better for everything. Shields, aura attacks, enhancements, semblances (except Laura's "semblance" *cough* *cough*), and as everyone found out the hard way, Dexter's glare. Mancer lost a good pair of trousers that day.

When Joan first got down a basic technique of coating his hand in aura, a prelude to coating a weapon in aura, his hand flared with light. When he punched a tree his aura coated hand exploded and the tree had a small impact crater on it. Since then Joan had been learning more aura techniques like a sponge and he wanted to use them in all of his spars. The only problem was that his semblance burned aura bright and fast. Maybe two minutes if he restrained the burn. Ten seconds if he encouraged the consumption.

"I'll just deal with him again." Dexter said with a hint of irritation. Mancer smiled. Suddenly Laura ran into the clearing at high speed. Both Dexter and Mancer paid her full attention instantly. This looked important.

"Mancer! Dexter! We've got a mission! Urgent!" Laura said quickly. "Get to the east wall in five minutes with everything ready to go. Dexter, we're flying. Go!"

With that all said Laura ran off again. Likely to find Rella or Joan. Dexter and Mancer wasted no time. Dexter nimbly packed up the cards and tossed them to Mancer. He caught the deck and began running towards their temporary home. The lieutenant had put the squad into a house that had been only a little damaged and said they could stay there if they fixed it. Luckily Mancer knew how and Joan had a basic idea.

Mancer burst through the front door to see Rella already mostly done packing the kitchen supplies. The two ignored her as Mancer ran to his room and Dexter scouted the house for any stray objects. Laura's room was empty. She must have already taken everything. Rella's room was empty. She had probably finished as well.

The house was mostly clean of scattered belongings so Dexter instead started on Joan's possessions. Sword polish, some repair tools, snacks, some books, and toiletries were all he had. Dexter took one more glance around the room before deeming it clean. He ran downstairs and set the pack down. Mancer and Rella appeared a few seconds later.

"Everything?" Dexter asked. The two nodded. Dexter kept Joan's pack and picked up a duffel bag of survival supplies Rella had packed and jogged out the front door.

A minute later Dexter and co. were at the east gate. Joan was there already in combat gear. He was likely sparring. Dexter handed his pack to him, which he accepted gratefully. "Alright!" Laura started. "The nearby settlement on Lanthos was occupied by Mistrali forces but the citizens of the town organized a resistance. They tried to take back the town. They failed. The resistance members were killed publicly. As you might imagine this drew a lot of grimm. The village had no huntsmen at the time."

"This happened five hours ago. The village is likely destroyed by now. We're going there to find any survivors. Mistrali or Valean. We're to escort the prisoners and citizens to a military camp far west as this town can't handle more people due to rebuilding. We're taking Dexter as soon as we enter the forest. There's a clearing through that trail there. Questions?" Nobody had any. Laura turned away and began jogging down the trail. "Let's go."

Not a minute later the five entered the clearing. Dexter dropped the supplies he was carrying and walked forward. He shifted quickly and crouched low to the ground. His four passengers walked on and grabbed onto the feathers to stay rooted. Laura sat in the middle of Dexter;s shoulders, where she normally was. Mancer took near the right wing and Joan the left. Rella looked between the two before shrugging and sitting with Joan.

Dexter started with a strong flap of his wings. He continued flapping until he had gained some decent height. Arrows wouldn't be able to reach him but he could clearly see the ground.

"Continue east!" Laura shouted over the wind. "It's about forty miles away. The messenger rode his horse hard." Dexter cawed in response. He picked up speed slowly, not wanting to knock anybody off.

"Ugh… I don't feel good." Joan mumbled. He was looking a little green. Rella glared at him.

"You better not. I'll make spider golems crawl into your bed at night if you do." The fear was enough to make Joan hold it in.

Dexter knew he could fly fast. He didn't know how fast but he could cover a mile in roughly thirty seconds if need be. (120 mph. See AN below) But he couldn't go top speed with passengers. He had gone fast enough to blow Laura off once. The less said about that the better. So he stayed at a good third of the speed he could go. It was still fast.

It was a good hour later that Dexter finally saw the village. It was easy to see. A plume of smoke reached up into the sky. Many houses were burned to the ground while others were damaged. Dexter glanced at the bodies laid out in the streets before looking to the grimm. The biggest he could see was a beringel in one of the houses rooting through the wreckage.

Of more importance was a movement of grimm going into the forest. Several packs of grimm were converging on a point in the forest south of the town.

"Joan! Rella! Drop down into the forest with the packs. Find what's agitating the grimm and, if there are survivors, protect them. Mancer! You see that beringel? I'll help kill it from up here while you search the town for survivors. Dexter and I are going to kill that old nevermoore-" Nevermoore? Dexter looked upwards. Huh. There was a nevermoore. Old too. He hadn't seen it while looking to the ground. "-and join you in sweeping the ruins after. Dexter. Fly down and drop off Joan and Rella first." Dexter cawed an acknowledgement.

He circled the village slowly before banking rather hard, going at an angle. A few cries of surprise came from his back but he ignored them. Nobody fell off at least. Good enough. A few seconds later Dexter was roughly above the disturbance and he tilted left. He felt Joan and Rella slide off and watched as they fell towards the forest. Joan didn't land all that well. He used his shield to break through the branches and landed with a stomp on an ursa, breaking it's back. Rella landed with some more grace. She used aura to brace her legs for a landing and hopped down from the highest branches down.

Dexter circled over to the beringel and it's activity. He heard Laura shoot a few icicles and saw several large spikes of ice impale the beringel's back and shoulder. "Now!" Laura ordered. Mancer jumped off towards the beringel. He slid down the beast's back and readied his tonfas a the grimm turned to him with a mighty roar. Laura kindly sent down some more large spikes of ice to the grimm. One more landed and the next was batted aside angrily.

Dexter looked away from the fight and instead focused on the nevermoore. He maneuvered himself to be behind and above it. Laura caught on and refrained from shooting at it. Dexter slowed above it to match it's speed and would have smiled as Laura jumped off onto the bird. The nevermoore cried out in surprise and tried to shake Laura off with a barrel roll. Laura sunk her sword into the grimm's hide in an unprotected spot and crouched down to stay rooted.

Dexter knew Laura would have no trouble handling the nevermoore with her skills. He watched as she ran up it's back to the head and readied her sword. The nevermoore cried as it disappeared. Dexter saw Laura fall with a cry. Did she not expect the bird to fall? What did she think would happen when it died?! Ugh. She'll be fine.

Dexter looked to the beringel Mancer was distracting and thought of a plan. Mancer wasn't doing so well. His weapons weren't working well so he instead he deactivated the shocking effect and was hitting it. More to distract it and charge his semblance if Dexter had to guess.

Dexter pointed himself downwards and shifted to his alpha beowolf form. He fell onto the beringel's back hard from his height and heard a cracking sound. He clawed and mauled the back and jumped off as the grimm stood up.

Dexter shifted to his faunus form quickly and looked to Mancer. He smiled at Dexter. "Thank you. Do you have anything to take this guy out?" Dexter looked to the grimm. It was badly injured and he'd taken out Elisia's nightmare creatures. There was a beringel there too. Perhaps just deal with it in the same way.

Dexter ran towards the grimm and saw it bring it's fists down like hammers. He slid between it's legs and turned around quickly. He jumped onto it's back and swiped his sword cleanly through it's neck. Mancer blinked uncomprehendingly at the corpse. "Wow." He said. "Just… I was having so much trouble and you just cripple it by falling from the sky and then you just execute it. Maybe Joan has the right idea learning from you." Dexter rolled his eyes.

"Laura can do what I just did too. Perhaps you could ask her." Mancer looked thoughtful for a moment before clearing his head. He looked towards the rubble where the grimm had been digging.

Dexter walked over to the rubble and listened closely. There was a crying sound. He immediately set to work clearing the rubble and Mancer helped without a word. A minute later Dexter caught a glimpse of the prize. A baby was trapped underneath a body in a hollow. A woman now dead cradled the child under her, protecting it from the rubble. Dexter picked up the child and passed it to Mancer. He took it confusedly and frowned at it.

"We should probably meet with Laura now." Mancer stated. Dexter nodded and listened closely for footsteps or sounds of battle. There was one rather close by.

"Follow me." Dexter said. Mancer followed with the child in his arms.

A minute and a few dead creeps and beowolves later Dexter came upon Laura. She had three people with her. One soldier in Mistralian armor and a man and a woman who were both glaring at the soldier. Laura was finishing up three beowolves while protecting the people.

Dexter greeted Laura with two arrows in the beowolves she was fighting. The couple yepled in surprise at Dexter and Mancer's appearance. The soldier's hand drew onto his weapon but he relaxed when he saw it was people and not grimm.

"Dexter you son of a bitch!" Laura yelled. "I thought you were going to catch me!" Dexter laughed a little at her anger. She wasn't really angry at him. Real anger from Laura was much more violent.

"Sorry about the misunderstanding. I was under the idea that we were going to split up to find more people. It seems that it worked well for us." Dexter waved at the three people Laura had found.

Laura weakly glared and sighed. "Yeah. I suppose you're right. I already ran through most of the ruins. There was another man but he was killed before I could get to him. These three were at each other's throats and attracting grimm." The soldier looked away sheepishly. The man glared at the soldier like it was only his fault.

Dexter sighed. "We should regroup with Joan and Rella. I doubt we'll find anyone else here." Laura nodded. She began walking south again before stopping.

"Wait… Manus is that a baby?"

"We found it in the pile of rubble the beringel was digging through." He said helpfully. Laura looked at the child before smiling softly.

"Hand the kid to Della. Keep any grimm away from out flank."

Mancer handed the child to the lady, Della apparently, and moved behind the group. Dexter took the right side with his bow ready and Laura the left with hers.

As the group walked through the ruined town Dexter decided to ask a question he had been wondering. "How did the town catch fire?" The Soldier decided to answer that.

"We were storing burn dust in a few caches throughout the town with rifles meant to defend the walls. We didn't want anybody to be able to sabotage all our dust at once. When the townspeople rebelled they seized control of one of the caches and rifles. The other two caches caught stray bullets in the fighting. When the grimm arrived the destruction allowed the fire to spread easier."

"This town wouldn't be burning if your kind hadn't come here in the first place." The man spat venomously.

"Quiet with that." Laura ordered. "Neither of you are fighting anymore. Fighting among yourselves only makes our job harder."

"You already failed at your jobs!" The lady, Della, cried. "Where were the huntsmen when the village was invaded by grimm?!" The man voiced his own agreement.

"The huntsmen stationed here were dismissed by the Mistrali forces stationed here to assist elsewhere." Laura said succinctly. "We came as fast as we could to save what was left."

"Then it's Mistral's fault! If they hadn't sent away their hunters and killed our fellows the village would have been safe!" The man said angrily. He leveled an angry look towards the soldier. The solder looked angry in return.

"We wouldn't have executed those people if they hadn't resisted. What were your people thinking would happen?"

"Enough!" Mancer yelled. Nobody expected him to yell so everyone froze for a moment in surprise. "Both sides are at fault! The Mistrali shouldn't have dismissed hunters when the situation was so volatile. The townspeople shouldn't have revolted without a way to repel the grimm. That this whole mess happened in the first place was a screw up on both sides! Now as much as I want conversation I know you lot will start pointing fingers again. So will you three shut up?!"

Nobody spoke after that. Laura turned and continued walking in silence. The townspeople and the soldier weren't exactly happy but neither of them spoke up either, which was good enough for the hunters.

|-\\\/-|

It didn't take long before the group silently ran into the forest. The soldier and the couple had casted angry glances between them the whole time. It hadn't attracted that many grimm, surprisingly. Any beowolves or creeps that approached were quickly put down by Dexter or Laura at range. The most dangerous grimm to cross their path were a group of three bloodzealots. It was easy to put them down.

Without stopping the company continued into the forest. It wasn't long before they heard the sound of rifle fire. "Stop." Laura whispered. "I'll approach first."

And at that Dexter and Mancer moved to better defend the group. The three noncombatants sat down on the ground to rest without a word. A tense and awkward silence was all that they had.

A few minutes later Dexter could hear chatter from the forest. He peered in the direction and saw a large group of moving people. The colors of their clothes were mostly greens and browns. Not the blue armor of Mistralian soldiers.

When the citizens came into the clearing they saw the solder. Some of them raised their rifles threateningly but before they could do anything Laura stepped in front of the with her hands up. "Our orders were to bring any survivors back to the military base far west. In other words, you can't kill the soldier. He'll be taken prisoner at the camp and hanged or imprisoned." That was a lie. Dexter and Laura knew that the man would be tortured for information and quickly and quietly disposed of. It was standard procedure when hunters were available. Torture caused a lot of negativity to pile up, obviously.

With the crowd mostly settled two familiar forms came into view. One gold and one purple. "Good to see you're alright." Laura nodded.

"It wasn't too much trouble." Joan said easily. Dexter could see that it really was. Joan's armor was dirty and somewhat dented in places. Rella had a small tear on her cloak. Luckily she kept plenty of thread in her pack in case her clothes were torn.

"Where are our things?" Dexter questioned.

"We passed them to the unarmed members of the group." Rella explained. She pointed to a few people who had the duffel bag and packs on them.

"Now we head west. We have a military camp ready to accept refugees a few day's hike away. We'll be defending you along the way. Unless you'd prefer to travel a war-zone by yourselves." Laura looked around. Nobody was going off to a war-zone without protection, of course. Not to mention that none of them were wanting for action after losing their loved ones. "I'd prefer to make it there within four days. We head out now. We'll provide what food we can along the way. Do not wander off by yourselves. We'll take breaks every mile or two."

With that settled the group followed after Laura. Dexter moved up beside her. "Do you want me to scout ahead or look for game to eat?" He asked. Laura considered it and nodded.

"Stay in faunus form. No need to startle the civilians." Dexter nodded, formed his bow, and left. He could feel the eyes of several people on him as he left.

Dexter's job was surprisingly easy. Game was plentiful in the forest and it wasn't like he would grow tired any time soon. Any grimm Dexter sensed were quickly disposed of. It became rare for grimm to reach the main group. At the end of the day Dexter had collected five rabbits. When the group stopped to setup camp he hunted a deer he saw earlier. It wasn't quite enough for the thirty or so people in the group but nobody expected Dexter to provide for everybody. Laura hunted as well but she didn't find any game other than a few grimm. Some of the stronger of the group tried to take more food than others. Joan put a stop to that quickly.

After Dexter returned from hunting there were still a few issues to sort out. "Who'll take first guard?" Laura asked to the group. A few hands went up. "You, you, and you patrol here, here, and there. Dexter will take watch with you. Switch off with us later." Dexter nodded at Laura's instructions.

"Where will people be sleeping?" He asked.

"Mostly around here." Laura waved vaguely in the general area. "Nobody has any bedrolls so they're sleeping on the ground. We're not sharing ours. It'd be unfair to those who don't get a roll." Dexter smiled. Laura forgot to mention that none of the squad want to share.

Dexter took a look at the three volunteers. "I'll be taking a wide patrol so I won't get every grimm. If you see one shoot and yell grimm. Don't shoot at shadows. People need sleep. When you see red eyes then you know that's a grimm. Got it?" The men looked like they'd heard it before. Perhaps they were part of the original village's militia? That would make sense.

"I leave it in your hands. I'll be patrolling along the treetops so please don't shoot at me." The men chuckled and dispersed as Dexter quickly climbed a tree nearby and formed his bow.

It was many hours later that Dexter finally left guard duty. There had been only one call of grimm and even then Dexter had been there in seconds to loose an arrow through the beowolf's neck. For the most part Dexter had no trouble keeping the wandering grimm at bay on his own. No truly nasty grimm approached anyways. The worst there was was a pair of ursa. Sadly Dexter forgot something.

"Dexter?"

"Hm?"

"Were you awake all night?"

"By the time I realized that I should wake one of you up it wasn't worth it." Laura sighed irritably.

"We'll be leaving in ten minutes. Help put away yesterday's cooking supplies, would you?" Laura walked away at that.

During the second day's march people found it much harder. The path was far more steep than the day before and the day was hot. Joan in particular found it hard since he was in armor. When the citizen grew tired of carrying the squad's pack they just passed it to the freshest looking person. Joan did not have that privilege, however. There were also thick clouds in the air. Dexter frowned at the storm.

Game was also far sparser that day. Four squirrels and four rabbits were all Dexter could find. It was probably the rain driving creatures into their hidey holes. Laura caught a boar, luckily, so nobody went too hungry but the march had taken it's toll. A few ribs were showing under wet clothing. The squad refused a portion of their dinner for the others. Plenty of people were thankful for the protection the squad provided so they tried to ensure they got the lion's share of the food. Dexter simply accepted the help people provided but put the food back with others as soon as he could. Even when people saw him put food back they didn't say anything, not wanting the trouble.

"You're not taking watch tonight." Joan said plainly. Dexter blinked owlishly at that.

"Why?" Joan sighed.

"Despite working just fine today people need sleep, Dexter. You've been working hard for over thirty six hours and taking less food than anyone. We're not going to force food down your throat but you at least need to sleep. I believe Laura wants a pillow tonight as well." Dexter rolled his eyes at that.

"Who will be taking guard, then?"

"Rella and some of her constructs will be starting the night. She'll switch to me for the rest of the night. Like you were supposed to do yesterday."

Dexter growled but relented. He truly didn't need sleep. He had gone a year without sleep out in the grimmlands. Grimm weren't nocturnal. Their bodies simply didn't require rest, food, or water. Dexter was the same. Some nights he didn't sleep and just pretended and was fine the next day.

Instead of using his bedroll Dexter had another idea. He hadn't used his hammock for a few days and he was missing time.

Ten minutes later a majority of the group was looking incredulously at a hammock floating above them. Dexter had simply wanted a good view of the night sky to gaze at instead of sleeping so he set up the hammock and lay with his left arm hanging lazily over the side. A few minutes later he saw Laura crouching in a nearby tree looking at the hammock hungrily. He was sure if she had a tail it would be swishing right now.

"No-wait-Laura you really shouldn't-" Laura didn't listen to him. She leapt from her tree branch to the hammock. Dexter was afraid it would snap the ropes but it surprisingly didn't. It bounced a little bit but didn't snap.

Dexter cautiously looked around and saw that he'd likely be alright in his hammock. Laura was laying very close on his right. His right arm, which was previously at his side, had become Laura's pillow.

It was at that moment that Dexter realized that Laura was very close. He awkwardly moved to become more comfortable away from Laura since he was stuck with her now. It only drew Laura closer to him, unfortunately. He gave up and just looked at the sky for the time being.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter didn't mean to fall asleep but he supposed he did do so. He blinked the sleep away as he took stock of his surroundings. Sky? Cloudy with a high chance of rain. Ground? Somewhat far down. Thing on his shoulders? Laura. He didn't even have to look for that one. He already knew the weight of her head well when acting as her pillow. Despite not needing to he turned his head slightly to look at her and found their lips almost touching as he did so. He turned his head away again and tried moving his arm instead… He couldn't. Laura had cut off circulation to his arm by sleeping on it.

All in all he was helpless to move unless he wanted to wake Laura up, which he didn't. He would feel bad. There was only one thing he could do. Call for help.

"Joan… Joan!" Dexter hissed. Joan turned his head to look at Dexter and smiled. He gave him a thumbs up and walked away. Well, there goes help. Joan was the only one awake other than Dexter. And now we wait…

It wasn't until a half hour later that others woke up. Dexter hissed for help from who he could but nobody was willing to help him. He even asked for them to start breakfast in the hopes that the smell would wake Laura up. They purposefully held off from making breakfast at the usual time just to see him suffer.

It was another half an hour post wakeup that Laura finally woke up. Dexter was staring into her eyes as annoyed as he could possibly look at the time. "Took you long enough." He stated in deadpan. She blinked a few times as the gears in her brain began working once more. Then she jumped as best she could while laying in a somewhat cramped hammock with a startled (and as Dexter would only grudgingly admit adorable) "Eep!".

The violent movement threw the hammock around slightly. Laura fell off the hammock and accidentally pushed Dexter off as well. Dexter clung to the side as best as he could like a drowning cat while Laura came falling down. Mancer, luckily, was there to catch her. He was also sleeping at the time.

With and "Ughf" Mancer with wide eyes looked up to see Dexter looking down at him hanging from his hammock and Laura laying perpendicularly over him. Nobody did anything at first but like a dam bursting Joan exploded into laughter. Then came Rella and the rest of the group. Mancer even chuckled a little despite his pain.

"Um… sorry." Laura apologized to Mancer.

"It's fine. Just don't wake me up like that every morning. Or any morning if you could." Laura then looked to Dexter, who was looking down with annoyance practically written on him. Laura grabbed Mancer and moved away as Dexter dropped down.

"I'll get my hammock down." He grumbled. Laura stifled her laughter at that. It was pretty funny how annoyed he was.

 **Omake: The ride**

"So Laura…" Della smirked. "You rode Dexter last night. Was it your first time?" Laura glanced towards her curiously.

"I didn't realize people saw us yesterday… I didn't ride him last night, though. Believe me, I love to but there were too many people around last night."

Della's eyes lit up. "You've rode him before?" Laura nodded.

"Actually everyone's rode him before. Mancer, Joan, and I did it just yesterday before we came here." Della's jaw dropped.

"You… he… the guys too?" Laura nodded with a little confusion.

"Why not?"

Della gaped at Laura. She turned to Mancer with his muscles, Joan with his handsome looks, and Rella with her statuesque beauty. "At the same time?" she murmered. A small trail of blood trickled from her nose.

Laura looked even more confused. "Why wouldn't we? He's gets us where we need to go fast and he can go nearly as long as we need him to. At least, he's never been tired. He has a lot of stamina. The most in our group by a long shot."

It was at this point that Joan came over. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Della saw us all riding Dexter yesterday." Joan frowned. "That's not a problem, is it?"

Della snapped out of her fantasies for a moment. "Oh no! I'm um… perfectly fine keeping your relationship a secret." Joan looked confused.

"What relationship? It's just riding him." Della looked as if struck by lightning.

"YOU GUYS ALL FUCK DEXTER IN AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP?!" She screamed.

Everyone in the group stopped what they were doing and looked to Laura and her team, who were all frozen. Then their gaze shifted to Dexter, who was standing mid-step with an armful of wood for the fire. Then he said slowly…

"Laura… What have you been saying about me?"

 **AN: Stanford university did a study on how fast sparrows can fly. They recorded up to 200mph but suggested that 100 was more near the norm for top speed. I took Dexter as 120 normally since he can spend his time constantly flapping his wings instead of gliding as most birds do.**

 **Now onto the real important stuff. The fluff. I had so much fun writing those scenes. It was cliche, I know, but god it was great to write. Let me know what you think of it, would you?**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: This chapter is super grim and depressing. Sorry. I'm trying to show what the war is. It isn't a battle with bandits who deserve to die. It's war. I'd also like to reaffirm that this isn't a story about horror. It's not a story about war either. This is a small part of the whole.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 16**

 **The dead**

"We've got maybe twelve more miles to go." Laura said happily while walking. "The camp was ninety miles away and we were expected to hike for about ten hours a day for four days. See, we've been going more like twelve hours a day and we've been walking at a faster rate than I anticipated so we're going to get to the camp late sometime today."

"I'm worried about how much people are eating, though." Dexter said with a frown. "Some people have their ribs showing a bit. Sure they'll recover at the camp with a better diet. We can also bring in some food on our own as thanks with proper cooks and lodging but right now it's looking pretty bad. Are you sure we shouldn't stop for six hours and get some food in people's bellies? Not to mention that it's going to rain today and we're really low on water as well. People set in a ration." Laura frowned at that.

"The camp will have water and food. If we stopped now we'd have to set aside at least three of us to guard the civilians while the other two hunt. I don't know if the rest of the team can hunt, actually. I know Joan can't and Rella seems too well off to have ever learned. Besides that there's also the matter of how the group feels. A lot of people are really determined to get to the camp. It's kind of a symbol of new beginnings, you know? A fresh start so they can put all of this destruction behind them."

Dexter nodded at that except for one thing. "What about the soldier? How is he doing?" Laura's face turned dark.

"He's on a death march. People have been giving him less food than the others and harassing him. Not to mention that he's still in his armor. They took his sword away from him two days ago and didn't give it back. I don't know what keeps him going, honestly."

Dexter considered that. "As long as he doesn't turn into a problem I suppose it doesn't matter what's driving him. What's his name, anyways?" Laura thought for a moment.

"I think he said Marcus Black."

Dexter nodded. "So long as he doesn't become a problem it doesn't matter what drives him." Laura nodded in agreement. "Now go do your patrol thing." She said. "We'll hit the camp soon."

Dexter left and began his 'patrol thing'. He walked a ways away from the camp by about a quarter mile and started running in a half circle in front of the group. He did this by jumping from tree to tree when possible but when not he would drop down and find a way back up on the other side.

Grimm were, disturbingly, becoming more and more abundant in the area. Dexter found four boarbatusks, two ursa major, a beowolf pack, and a few stray minor grimm in his patrol. That was an immense increase from yesterday. That meant to Dexter that either something happened in the area or that something around him was leaking negativity like crazy.

Nobody in the group had any major problems. In fact they were mostly filled with hope. Dexter himself wasn't feeling particularly sad at the moment either. The team was also fine. So that meant that something had happened in the immediate area… the camp was the only known landmark in the area as well.

With all that said Dexter seriously considered going ahead to the camp. There was a lot riding on it but if there was a high concentration of grimm around it there would be some serious decisions to be made.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter crouched down among the ashes of the camp. Footprints. Mistralian footprints. They littered the ground outside of the camp on the eastern side both exiting and entering. There weren't any grimm around to attack him after the attack. They had scattered into the countryside after finishing their bloody work.

Inside the camp was far far worse. Tents were burned to the ground, bodies littered the area in maimed pieces, and every stockpile of supplies had been looted for all they were worth. There were a few useful things scattered around the camp, though. Personal belongings were mostly untouched. The mess area had been looted of most food. Bags of salt were left, though. Not like many people would want to lug a heavy bag of salt away when prepared rations were around. That said there were still some rations left. Jerky, dried fruits, and a few pickled and salted vegetables were strewn about.

Dexter collected what was useful. Food, rifle ammunition, the good quality swords, and a few more miscellaneous supplies like flashlights and fishing line in their own separate pile. Barrels of collected rainwater had survived the burning of the camp as well. There were also more tents to spare than Dexter bothered to collect. They were for any refugees most likely. He had looted the soldiers corpses as well and piled them near the middle of the camp. He had shifted to his beowolf form to make it quicker but after the work was done the footprints in the ash painted an odd picture. Sweeping away the footprints had taken as much time as it would have taken to just do the task normally. Oh well.

It was now that Dexter needed to piece together what happened. It would be a while longer before the group got here. Dexter had run about four or five miles to get here and had spent about one and a half hours piling bodies and collecting supplies. It would take an hour or two for the group to get here taking breaks. It was also uphill so perhaps a little longer.

To start Dexter went to the captain's tent. The battalion stationed here had primarily been a medical and escort group. They were meant to find refugees and bring them back to a larger camp to be shipped back to Vale territory.

The captain's body laid under the wreckage of the tent. On the captain's body was nothing. Well, there was a laundry list but nothing important. Of far more interest was his "captain's log", which was in a drawer adjacent to his bed. With an interested gleam in his eyes Dexter opened the book and found the date as of five days ago.

 _April 8th,_

 _We put down the flag to accept refugees today. A detachment of Missies found the camp. A messenger was sent to all the nearby camps. Writing five messages is such a pain. I also couldn't remember the name of the camp in the northeast. Tom helped me out again with that. No activity from the Missies around here. I don't think they'd be so dishonorable to attack a camp meant to help refugees escape but I don't know them all that well really. If they do attack then we're utterly fucked. We have swords, sure, but most of the men around here are medics rather than soldiers. Sure we could probably defend from a platoon but even just being in the area stops refugees from approaching for the most part. They're patrolling the forest as well. Planty of small skirmishes with our patrols. I'm holding back our forces to the camp except the more experienced rangers. Supplies are fine for the moment but I'm getting sick of rabbit meat. Nobody's caught a deer in a week. Do deer migrate?_

 _April 9th,_

 _A group of huntsmen stopped by with more refugees. We tried to tell them that we weren't accepting any more but they didn't much care. They dropped off the group by the edge of camp and just walked off. We weren't just going to let the poor sops sit out there hungry. They're our citizens! We took them in but I'm still angry at those hunters. Pricks couldn't understand what no meant. They didn't even bother asking to help with the grimm around the camp. They left a bunch of red tents with the refugees at least. All ours are green so they somewhat standed out when they settled in. Of course we still have maybe two hundred spare tents in our stores but sure. Hand us the two things we literally don't need when we could use literally anything else._

 _April 10th,_

 _Tom was injured today badly enough that he's in the medical tent. He'll be staying there for a while longer. Maybe four days. Thank dust for aura. I need somebody to make me coffee._

 _April 11th,_

 _I had something odd reported to me. The refugees we brought in two days ago aren't… melding with the other refugees. They're staying distanced and acting close. I put davisson up to investigating them._

Dexter frowned at the entries. Hunters weren't that callous most of the time. To just drop refugees like they didn't care about their fates and not to mention not taking a mission. Odd behavior to say the least. And then the refugees didn't assimilate smoothly. That settles it. He'd be investigating the refugees. So red tents…

It didn't take long to find the refugees tents. Some of them were still standing. Dexter walked into those and found them neatly empty. Someone had calmly taken everything and left the tent. The same view was met with the next red tent. And the next one. And the next one too. Just to be safe Dexter checked a normal Valean green tent. It looked more like he would have expected. Belongings thrown around and messily stored away into a pack that never left the tent. The refugee laid on the ground with a bloody bite to the neck. A beowolf snuck up on him when he slept.

Sighing Dexter continued searching the red tents. Eventually he found another journal. Grinning he opened it to the same date as he had the captains'.

 _April 8th,_

 _Bag - check_

 _Knives - check_

 _Sword - check_

 _Bedding - check_

 _I've got all my supplies. I made sure to check with the others that we have everything. We do. The hunters are ready. We're ready. Hail to the god-king._

 _April 9th,_

 _We're in. The hunters did their job but I think they did something wrong. They dropped us off and left. That's what valean hunters do, right? Well so long as they looked the part it's fine. We'll be a little more careful, though. We tried to blend in but I don't think we've done so well. People often talk badly of our kingdom. They're so insulting. Especially to the god-king. I, as well as the others, would be happy to strike them down. We have our orders, though. For now we wait._

 _April 10th,_

 _The raids were more intense than usual today. Preparation for tomorrow. A few of our number began the sabotage today as well. Food was stolen and brought to our tents. Weapons were stolen and misplaced. Oils used to polish the weaponry was replaced with the salt water and grit by yours truly. I also replaced the disinfectant with lemon and salt mixture. Perhaps that was slightly cruel. Like rubbing salt into a wound._

 _April 11th,_

 _People know something is up. A few soldiers have been looking at us a little too intensely. No matter. Tomorrow it begins. More sabotage was done. We poisoned the water supply and drank from our own reserves. We stopped most social pleasantry with the rest of the camp. They aren't kicking us out today but the damage has already been done. We've gotten an operative around those with children. We won't condone those to the afterlife. They will come with us and be shown the divine path as we have._

 _April 12th_

 _I write this early. Hail to the god-king. May the souls of these damned be shown the way of our people. The way of the divine. May those above look away as we reaffirm our faith with this act and stain our souls in blood of the guilty. May our enlightening of the lambs cleanse our souls. Hail to the god-king._

As Dexter finished reading the journal he wanted to burn it as a sort of vengeance but he kept it. Proof would be needed that Mistral was sabotaging camps through fake refugees. Sabotaging the supplies, stealing what they could, and kidnapping the children. Dexter felt a little relief that they didn't kill the children in the camp but still, the poisoning of the water supply undoubtedly went to the children. Not to mention that they killed mothers and fathers.

Dexter took a deep breath. And calmed himself. Mistral took the children, burned the camp, and stole the supplies. This was two days ago. Perhaps… just perhaps the squad could pursue them and take the children back but… they weren't supposed to by the treaty. Then again, Mistral hadn't quite respected the treaty either. Their hunters impersonated valean hunters and dropped mistralian spies within the camp to destroy it. They had plausible deniability, though. The journal from the operative was unnamed. While in this location it would pass for evidence if brought anywhere but the camp it could easily be dismissed as a forgery.

With angry eyes Dexter walked back to the piles of supplies and bodies he had made earlier. As he drew closer he saw Laura and the group. They looked as though they had just gotten here judging by their horrified faces. Dexter supposed a pile of corpses twice as tall as he was would shock some people. The ash from the fires only reinforced the fact.

"Who…" Laura whispered.

"Mistral." Dexter replied. "They pretended to be refugees while in actuality they were sabotaging the camp. They made off with all but some of the supplies and all of the children in the camp two days ago. Grimm killed most of the valeans." Dexter put the journals of the captain and the operator on top of the supply pile.

"I haven't gotten to the refugees or the bodies under tent remains. This is just what was strewn around the camp. Help out whenever you're ready. Take some time to make the camp for today anyways." Dexter tried to smile but he just couldn't. Not that he normally could anyways.

Dexter returned to the refugee section and began loading the corpses onto a cart before bringing them back to the pile. He considered putting the corpses into separate smaller piles. One large pile wouldn't burn well.

"Dexter?" Laura asked shakily.

"Yes?"

"What are we doing with the bodies?" Dexter looked into Laura's eyes.

"We don't have the time to make graves. Even a mass grave is still too time consuming. It would take days. The bodies have been out in the open for two days. One more and they'll start to rot. The rain only quickened things. Burning the bodies is the only option. However, the bodies won't catch with a match. They're too wet. You'll have to burn them." Laura trembled and looked down.

"There were children in there." Dexter paused. The youngest in the pile were roughly nine by his estimate. There were also plenty of bodies of those about twelve or so. It was somewhat hard to tell with the grimm bite marks.

"At the Mistralians taking children I believe they meant those five and under. Perhaps they went a little over or under my estimate but I've seen no infants at least." Dexter knew it wasn't the consolation Laura needed but it was all he had.

"How many more bodies do you think are left?" Laura asked weakly.

"You don't want to know."

Laura didn't answer that.

|-\\\/-|

Joan helped Dexter with the bodies for a few minutes but left. He couldn't handle it. Dexter at least respected that he tried. It was more than anyone else did. In the end Dexter had done all the work. Laura set up the camp with a few others who were able to muster up the will to do something. Not many. The group had put their hopes and dreams on the camp. It was a symbol of a new life to put the horror of losing their home behind them.

Imagine what it said to them when their future was seen burned to the ground with a mound of corpses to greet them.

Dexter didn't mind doing all the work, really. The work was time consuming but not particularly strenuous. He also didn't expect anybody to help with the scene they had been greeted with. Dexter had seen them drink what alcohol there was early on in the night. Perhaps that would help them sleep better.

With so much time on his hands Dexter had plenty of time to think. Why were his teammates so affected? Or why he himself was so unaffected. Laura especially. He and she killed those hunting her on a monthly basis and met with bandits quite often. Rarely did any survive after attacking them. Even with all that murder in her life Laura was an upbeat person. She was happy. Now, though, was different. What did she expect in the war? Dexter knew from the moment he heard the word war that it would be horrible and unjust. It was not full of grand battles and heroics.

Dexter thought that it was because it was innocents that Laura was so affected. She killed murderers. Rapists. Terrible people in most senses. Also, they always attacked first. Laura never struck first. Seeing innocents who wanted to flee killed must be hard on her. As expected, though, she still was able to find it in herself to help those she could by setting up the camp.

Next was Joan and Rella. Both were from affluent families and had trained hard but with no real world experience. The difference, however, was in what they had done when confronted with the scene. Rella had taken stock of all the supplies they had silently. It was irritating to Dexter that she didn't use her golems to help him. They would be immensely useful if she were to make even a few weak ones but he didn't press her for any.

Joan, however, had won more of Dexter's respect. He had tried to help when he clearly didn't want to. He had seen Dexter toil at the work nobody wanted to do and decided to try to help him. He hadn't done much, sure, but he had tried. When he was able to do no more, no matter how little, he had bowed out to avoid becoming a hinderance. He was sheltered and had never needed to kill, Dexter knew, yet he had helped to the best of his abilities. It spoke mountains of how Joan was willing to help his teammates no matter how little. Dexter was actually impressed.

Then there was Mancer. Mancer had started a small fire and sat next to it. He stared into the fire and thought. Dexter was curious but he looked like he didn't want to talk much. Despite being the most social of the group Mancer was actually the one Dexter knew the least about. He grew up in slums, had some do friends, and then he's a well trained huntsman. He seemed to be handling it alright, though. Later Mancer had disappeared into the forest and came back with squirrels and a rabbit. Not as much as Dexter could have collected but still a dinner for most. The remaining food in the camp would supplement the rest.

Finally was Dexter himself. He looked deep inside himself and found that in regards to the death of all these innocents… he didn't like it… but he didn't care THAT much. Sure the death and destruction was terrible but it was expected really. All he really cared about was making sure the people he was close to were okay. And was that really so bad? He disliked the Mistralians for what they did. It had harmed his team mentally. Besides that he felt some disgust at their tactics. Kidnapping? Dexter liked sneak attacks. That didn't mean he didn't have a small code of honor. That they would do such deeds and justify it in the name of their god-king just didn't sit right with Dexter. Perhaps it was his grimm side. He couldn't really associate with humans as a whole. Even with Laura or people he did know there were some occasional stark differences. THe bodies being just one example.

Mistral in general wasn't a bad place. There were certainly good people in Mistral but the fanatical belief in those like the journal author spoke of a weak will that needed to lean on something it deemed greater than itself. The god-king was in all likelihood just a man like any other. Mistral itself wasn't bad but the people and governing system needed to change. Badly. Mantle as well needed to change. Slavery was a definite no by Dexter's moral code. Faunus oppression too was plain idiotic.

|-\\\/-|

It took a long time for Dexter to finish playing undertaker. Nobody was asleep though they probably should have been. "Laura?" Dexter asked softly. She flinched at her name being called. She probably knew what it meant. "It's time."

Laura didn't say anything but walked towards the pile. It had grown quite a lot. Dexter had found some wood grain alcohol and had emptied the few bottles onto the pile but still it wouldn't burn all that well. Plenty of corpses had been trapped under wet tent fabric, which certainly didn't make them burn better.

With a sorrowful look on her face Laura approached the pile. She stood on the side opposite of where everyone was staying so she could use her powers freely and pass it off as some dust.

Dexter could feel Laura draw some power slowly from her soul. It welled up in her slowly. There was no need to rush the accumulation like in combat. Laura gathered all the power in her hand gathered all of it into a small flame in her hand. Dexter stood silently as Laura approached the pile almost ceremonially. He saw her hold in a sob as she looked at a younger one. She tossed the powerful flame onto the pile. It ate the bodies almost hungrily.

Laura walked up to Dexter silently. Dexter embraced her in a hug immediately. He felt her sob on his cloak. He moved with her over to the others and let go of her for a minute. He pulled out his hammock and with practiced movements set it on the treetops to see the stars like the night before. Laura needed a pillow and he'd be damned if he was letting his alpha down in her time of need.

Dexter climbed a bit up before helping Laura out to climb. It took a minute before they got to the hammock. Dexter held her close as she cried herself to sleep. He frowned as he realized that sleeping in the hammock together just became a habit… they'd have to work on their landings then.

 **AN: Depressing chapter, I know. Realize that this is something that happens in wars. This war is no different. It's essentially WW1 and RWBY takes place in what might escalate to WW2. It's Vale versus Mistral right now but *spoiler alert* Mantle is getting directly involved soon. Next chapter will be finishing up the mission. Then a timeskip. We've done everything for the beginning of the war for the most part now and I've given you a taste of my interpretation of the war.**

 **Introduce the squad? Check.**

 **The squad forms a relationship? Check.**

 **A little worldbuilding? Check.**

 **Destroy everyone's innocence? Check.**

 **With all that done we move on… to stage 2 of the pla- I mean war. Stage two of the plan is way more fun than writing this depressing chapter. Stage two of the plan coming along keeps me going through the war.**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Not much happening this chapter but it had to happen eventually. Fillers are inevitable.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 17**

 **The hobby**

It had been two days since the group arrived at the destroyed camp. For the most part nothing had happened. People needed time to grieve. A small obelisk was created for the deceased out of a large stone lying around. The refugees had rolled it to the near center of the camp and set it upright again.

The stone was carved with a few hammers and nails to act as a chisel. A recording of the camp and what had happened was written on one side and a prayer for the deceased on the other. An hour of silence was enacted out of respect. Even with the respects for the deceased being done the group needed a place to go. Staying in the camp wasn't a long-term solution.

"So we go to the camp in the northeast, then?" Dexter asked. Laura nodded.

"It's the only camp that has a vacancy in refugees. Those who care to join can become soldiers or help out in some sort of way. The rest will get an escort back to Vale."

Dexter thought about any better action to take. He could think of none. "So when do we leave?"

"That's the question, isn't it? We can't stay here forever but we can last weeks with the salt we have here. The barrels of rainwater are fit for drinking since they were covered in a tarp. I know we can acquire enough game to feed these people for a while if we try. However, the people aren't fit to march now. Ribs are still showing."

Dexter looked down at that. "Perhaps… four days. That's what I think. Then we can march for… How many days will it take?" Laura looked pensive at that.

"You know what? I don't rightly know. Perhaps two days at least and five at most depending on our pace and some luck."

"Why don't I scout ahead as a nevermoore? I can tell the camp we're coming and they can prepare for the group to arrive rather than show up unannounced." Laura frowned.

"You and I are the only ones who know how to hunt. You leaving would starve these people even more. I have to stay and lead the people. I can't hunt for everyone. Not to mention that I'm running low on arrows. In other words, no. You can't leave the camp. Food is needed and nobody else is as capable at it as you are."

Dexter scowled. That he was the only one capable of finding food in quantity was… well for others it was good but he just felt that he was capable of more useful things. Despite this his more rational mind knew that acquiring food, while little more than a chore, was undoubtedly the most important thing he could do as well as something that only he and Laura could do.

"Then we show up at the camp and hope they take the refugees?" Laura shook her head.

"We'll send Joan and… Mancer ahead since they're the most physically fit. They'll warn the camp of our coming." Dexter sighed.

"Then… if there are no other options we should make for the camp quickly after them. I'd like a little time to rest after… all this."

Laura gave him a grim smile. "It feels like it's been a long time when in actuality it's been only three days since we were at shiragiku. Let's avoid doing escort missions whenever possible. We move much quicker when it's just the group." Dexter's frown lessened. It wasn't like he could pick and choose his missions but… it would be nice if they didn't have untrained civilians with them next time… or ever. That would be nice.

|-\\\/-|

Bored. Endlessly and monotonously bored. That was what Dexter felt. If he had ever trained to just turn off his mind and do things he felt he would be far better off than he was now. It had been three days - THREE DAYS - since Joan and Mancer left for the camp. It had been nothing but hunting. That was all Dexter could do. Literally nothing else was remotely worth doing.

Card games had been done to the point that Dexter began nodding off mid game. Sparring was fun but he wasn't going to freak out the civilians and transform. Swordplay got dull rather quickly. Killing grimm in the forest, already something boring since they were all rather weak, was equally boring, and making his weapons faster wasn't useful anymore. It would be nothing more than an idle exercise.

All Dexter could do was actively focus on further cultivating how large his aura reserves were and associated aura techniques. The techniques and cultivation weren't a bad timesink but there was only so much Dexter could do without going below what he considered being combat ready. In other words…

Dexter was bored.

"Lau-"

"No, Dexter. I can't think of anything else you could do. Really I can't." Dexter's shoulders slumped a little. For a moment Laura looked at him with equally bored eyes. "Believe me, if I could start running towards the camp I would. The civvies are still anxious about leaving, though and I gave my word that we'd be leaving tomorrow."

Dexter growled. This was going to be a long day.

|-\\\/-|

After literally doing nothing but laying around all day yesterday (Dexter had, after several experiments, decided the best grass to lay in was the grass that was in the shade but that was _just_ out of the sun. He also interviewed everybody to find out who the most boring person was. It turned out to be a guy named Tim who hadn't a single noteworthy achievement to his name. Dexter then made him a poorly crafted trophy out of wood. He had tears in his eyes as he accepted it) the group finally set off.

As it turned out most of the civilians were getting itchy feet like Dexter and Laura. Rella had been one of the few people who was happy doing nothing. Nobody cared to ask why. She looked sullen when it was finally the day to leave.

Dexter quickly realized that while walking was slightly better than lazing around it was also dull enough to be considered boring. The few moments of interest were when a stray grimm came across the group. Dexter's few moments of relief were when he tried drawing ominous messages on trees in bone arrows. The civvies had freaked out when he impaled a boarbatusk right by the message 'you shall not pass'. The fight with the beowolf pack attracted by the negativity was also somewhat fun since there were two alphas. Then he was bored again.

Hunting was not even worth mentioning. He did make a skeleton out of a rabbit skull and some bones he made himself. He planned on putting some hide and two buttons on it and calling it a plushie. Or maybe just arrange rabbit skeletons around a pentagram in a random forest somewhere. That ought to freak some people out when they find the demon rabbit circle… Dexter chuckled as he realized he had way too much free time. Who but an extremely bored person would even think of making a rabbit skeleton demon ritual?

Besides messing around Dexter did do his job and well at that. Only a few grimm made it around Dexter and that's because Laura or Rella killed them before he did.

Then, after a night with Laura in his hammock (He was right. It had become a habit that he and Laura slept in the same hammock) day two began. It was equally boring as the first except that Dexter considered if he could dye fur or hide black, wrap it around some fabricated bones he makes, and put a bone mask on the bone skeleton and hide to make a dummy grimm. Certainly something to look into. Grimm plushies sounded… weirdly adorable. How odd.

Dexter just needed to use soft and flexible bone instead of hard bone… this could actually make a profit. All he needed was some black dye. Or tar. Preferably black dye for the hide… rabbit fur was really soft. Dexter would be collecting the skins of rabbits for plushies from now on. He resolved to make a giant plushie grimm and drop it on people from rooftops.

On the third day Dexter seriously considered making plushie grimm. He tried making bones as soft and flexible as he could. They wouldn't work as armor ever but with some practice Dexter had made soft skeletons of grimm small enough to fit in his palm. It took some effort to make them bigger.

Eventually a woman in the group asked Dexter why he was making tiny grimm skeletons every five feet. Dexter explained his interest in making grimm dolls. After looking slightly disturbed by the idea of a demonic skeleton rabbit ritual, which led to the idea, the woman went back into the group and pulled away a burly man from the group.

The man turned out to be a furrier, tanner, dye worker, and tailor for the village named Dom. They didn't have enough people to really specialize one man for just one of the trades. Dexter found himself and the man animatedly talking for more than two hours. During a brief rest Dexter sacrificed a rabbit to learn how to properly remove the skin for the best softness. Dexter also made sure to memorize the words of the dye worker for making the plushies. He actually had something to call a hobby other than training now!

Rabbit fur was apparently the best idea for small scale stuff and kid's toys as Dexter was aiming for at the moment. Dexter could make beowolf fur but he couldn't make it soft enough no matter how hard he tried. Not that he tried much. Sure it wasn't coarse but not as good as rabbit fur. It did have the color down, though, so he'd practice making the whole toy from his bone and fur just in case he wanted a toy and didn't have a prepared one on hand.

The best kinds of items for making black dye specialized for leather, hide, and/or fur was an extract from a type of orchid found around cliffs and ponds. Other than that there was a type of beetle in the forest good for making black dyes. Ink could be used as well if available but it would ruin the fur somewhat making rabbit fur less soft. Unacceptable. If Dexter was picking up a hobby he was doing it right.

Throughout the whole day Dexter enthusiastically hunted any rabbits he could bet his hands on. Hands because Dexter preferred to sneak up on the rabbit and snap it's neck to avoid getting blood on it's fur. He also found a few of the orchids Dom talked about. They weren't quite as rare as he had said but not quite common. The beetles were pretty common when Dexter looked for them. It was rather difficult to catch them, though. Dexter took a spare glass jar from the group.

People were apparently quite amused at Dexter's enthusiasm for his new hobby. Dom was happy to find somebody who shared his interests, albeit indirectly, and happily helped Dexter plan his hobby out. Laura teased Dexter about 'playing with dolls' but she asked for one too. She found the idea of grimm dolls intriguing. People feared the grimm far more often than they found them cute. Making dolls of them rather than taxidermy to show off hunts was apparently a refreshing perspective.

It was estimated by Laura that this night would be their last before the camp. Dexter learned from Dom how to distill the dye and extract the coloring from the plants and beetles. Dom mixed the extracts with a solution from water and oils to make an inky black substance Dexter was looking for. For the rest of the night Dom taught Dexter more about what he'd need to know to continue his project. They didn't dye the rabbit fur, however. That would need to soak in a tray filled slightly with dye. There was sadly no tray available for Dexter or Dom nor the time to do it properly.

|-\\\/-|

It was past noon when the group finally reached the camp. As soon as the group came to and Laura proved they were Valean with her badge everyone was called to a meeting with a second lieutenant of the camp. To update them all on orders.

"Now I'm sure you're all tired with aching feet." The lieutenant started. "Don't worry, you'll get a day to rest and prepare what you care to but we aren't the safest here from the Missies. You'll all be headin' out back southwest to cross back into the Sanus mainland. From there you can wander on your own to find a new home. As soon as you pass out of this warzone you'll be free to do as you like. Once more, be prepared for leaving in a fortnight. Ask for sergeant Fran or sergeant Malcom if you need to know something. They're in charge of you all. Set up your tents in the clearing a ways that way. Hunters, you're not needed right now but I'd suggest you leave for the town of Dackdale. It's eighty miles due north and sees plenty of action that close to the frontlines. That is all."

Before Dexter could make plans with Dom Laura grabbed him by the collar. "We're finding Mancer and Joan first. You can talk to him later. We'll have to leave tomorrow, though. Sorry Dexter."

Dexter frowned sadly. "The job takes priority right now. I understand that people need us at the moment… I'm definitely making those plushies, though." Laura snorted.

"I think if you were stranded in the Vacuan desert naked you'd still find a way to make the damn things."

Dexter smiled faintly and righted himself. "I'll go check the perimeter of the camp. Joan might be in a tree somewhere reading a book. I'll leave Mancer to you."

Laura had her thinking face on. "What was… Oh! Right. That solder guy, whatshisname… um - Marcus Black! We did an absolutely terrible job at keeping him prisoner but that doesn't really matter. It turns out the guy was a double agent so he actually wanted to come with us."

Dexter blinked for a moment. What soldi- OH! Right. That guy. Dexter had completely forgotten about him. "That… that makes a lot of sense. I just left him to the civilians and forgot about him."

Laura looked sheepish. "I did the same. We really need to have assigned Mancer or Joan to keep an eye on him. I asked for some pointers on keeping prisoners. As it turns out you can't just forget that you have prisoners in the first place. Anyways, we'll do better next time. Now go find Joan."

It wasn't hard to find Joan. He was sitting on a rock by a bonfire with some soldiers chatting nearby. He had brightened up a bit when Dexter approached. He was apparently quite eager to know what had happened while he and Mancer were gone.

It was very easy to find Laura and Mancer after that. Mancer had started a slew of drunken singing in the mess tent despite not being drunk himself. He just found it funny to hear them butcher 'Drunken sailor'. Why they were singing that song while landlocked? Mancer wouldn't say.

Finally Dexter and the squad, after tracking down Rella who had been forgotten in the search, made their way to the tenting area and made camp with their practiced efficiency. Before anything else happened, though, Dexter ran off to find Dom.

"Dom." Dom, who was flipping through a weathered looking journal, brightened a little before standing up.

"Dexter! I was wondering when you'd pop by!"

Dexter nodded. "My squad is leaving tomorrow. After planning the dolls for so long it's a shame that I'll have to make the first one on my own but I'll manage it."

Dom grinned at that. "Don't worry about it. I thought something like this might happen. That's why I'm giving you this!" Dom closed the book with a snap and handed it to Dexter. "I learned how to write some years ago. I started writing a journal to keep track of my experiments but it got too messy. I can parse out my abbreviations and such but that journal's a sort of layman's guide to leatherworking, dyes, furs, and pretty much anything and everything I know about my craft." Dom looked sad for a moment.

"I never got an apprentice, you see. I started to think I might never get one. Part of why I wrote that journal. I know I might not survive crossing the warzone escort or not. With the war causin' so much negativity as well villages back in Sanus will be in for trouble. Since you're strong I figured you're as close as I'll ever get to an apprentice barring a stroke of luck. Besides, I can just write another. I've got everything up here, ya see." Dom pointed a finger to his head. "I'd rather it be with you, who's following in the craft somewhat, than have it burned or collectin' dust. So go and do your doll stuff… and repair your friend's leathers yourself. We leatherworkers overcharge."

Dexter chuckled slightly. "Thanks Dom. I'll pass this on to someone else if I ever don't need it. It was nice working with you."

Dom smiled broadly. "Same here lad. Now go kill some grimm or somethin'… and enjoy playin' with dolls." Dexter's faint smile dropped with an eye roll in it's place. Dom laughed as Dexter turned away towards the squad's campsite.

"-'s found a hobby?" Joan's voice asked. Rella's voice responded.

"Yes. He's using his semblance to make soft skeletons of grimm and making them look like the real thing but tiny. They're basically surprisingly soft dolls."

There were four beats of absolute silence. Then Mancer couldn't hold in his laughter and let a little slip. That proved to break the silence completely. Joan and Mancer roared in laughter so hard that it hurt Dexter's ears a little.

"He - he - he's making - oh my dust!" Joan laughed out. Dexter heard Mancer run out of breath and fall down while sucking in air before laughing more. With a faint degree of anger for making fun of him so much Dexter silently stalked over to the tent and slipped inside.

To scare the two men just a little Dexter dropped into his instincts as a grimm slightly. In as scary a voice as he could he went _**"I'm sorry did you say something about me?"**_ Mancer slowed his laughing immensely and Joan looked like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Laura shivered a little, likely remembering Dexter accidentally scaring her full blast. Rella smiled but she had managed to hold in her laughter so she was off the hook if tenuously.

Joan decided to start first. "Uh, no. It's a very respectable hobby. We simply thought that you would choose something like, uh, skull collecting."

"Or brooding." Mancer chimed in with a smirk still in place.

"Or scaring children." Rella giggled.

"Or stalking people." Laura snickered.

Dexter released his focus on his instincts and groaned. "Who do you people think I am?"

Laura smiled deviously. "I know you tried stalking that one girl back in Vale before scaring the whole huntsman in training class. That's two down. Then you had the psychotic idea to have a skeleton rabbit demon summoning circle halfway through the return trip. I know you still have those skulls somewhere on you. And you do like to be alone a lot."

Halfway through Laura's breaking down of Dexter's habits Mancer and Joan fell back into laughter and Rella was holding it in again. Before Laura finished she started laughing as well. Dexter's poker face was on full effect throughout the whole thing. He had the suspicion that that made it even funnier.

"... shut up." Dexter glared at the ground in front of him. He secretly formed a rabbit skull in his palm. It was easier to just make them himself than carry them around.

"You-heheh-you're making a circle of skeleton rabbits?" Rella laughed. Dexter made sure to keep a smile off his face as he drew five rabbit skulls from behind him. He set them in front of him and pointed them towards a center point. He drew a small pentagram in front of him in between the skulls. Laura decided to play around too and made a small wind pick up outside the tiny circle of skulls.

"Dark brother I ask of ye to smite these disrespectful heathens in front of me." He said stoically.

Joan, Mancer, and Rella were hunched over laughing. Joan and Mancer had tears in their eyes while Rella was openly laughing. Dexter was grinning madly and Laura had lowered toa giggle with the focus to maintain the dust ring. At that moment some officer came into the tent. "Hey could you… all…" the officer stood dumbfounded as he saw three of the hunters laughing obsessively as a pentagram of rabbit skulls with a tiny ring of dust circling it lay in between the five.

"Uh… Just stop laughing so hard pretty soon. Have fun sacrificing virgins." This only made the three laugh harder. Laura shattered her slight concentration and broke into laughter at that. Dexter chuckled as quietly as he could.

Pretty soon the five finished their laughter though giggles and chuckles continued on for a time. A little more talking occured but of the more mundane variety. Dexter soon set up his hammock quickly and was happy that Laura stayed in her own bed now that she had a pillow. He was pretty sure she would sleep with Dexter in his hammock whenever they were in the wilds, though. The five fell to sleep soon after.

|-\\\/-|

 **Omake: Silence of the rabbits**

Private Forrest was having a good day. He had the first coffee, it wasn't his turn to do the laundry in his cell, and he had watch duty late at night. He'd been able to spend the majority of his day gambling and having fun while on watch duty. The only downside, and it wasn't even that bad, was that he had to do a patrol in the relative darkness of night. Far preferable to, say, cleaning the latrines.

Strangely enough, however, the private heard an odd sound. He turned quickly and readied his pike. He swept his torch forward just in case. If it was a grimm it wasn't a huge problem. He was no huntsman but he did have aura and skill. He could escape a pack of beowolves should he need to.

It appeared his fears were unfounded, however, as nothing seemed to be there. Forrest returned to his patrol with his senses on high alert. It was preferable to be cautious than not. Even if it was just a wild cat or something noises in the dark didn't inspire confidence.

For a while Forrest didn't hear or see anything out of the ordinary. Soon, though, he found something. A rabbit skull pinned to a tree with an arrow through it's empty eye socket. The arrow looked to be made of… bone? What the…

 _*Shtick*_

Forrest's eyes widened as a new arrow flew at high speed from behind him through the other eye of the rabbit skull. His heart raced as he desperately scanned the darkness. Seeing nothing Forrest started running back to the camp.

While he was running Forrest saw a light. Torches! Another patrol! Safety! Forrest's feet pounded against the ground as he ran. As he slid into the light he immediately yelled and fell backwards, dropping his torch.

There around a tree stump were five rabbits skeletons. They each had their bone skulls pointed towards him, like they'd been looking at him before he saw them. Most disturbing, however, was the stump. The stump had a pentagram carved into it and a dead rabbit with it's throat slit in the center. The blood, disturbingly, pooled through the channels of the carving making a blood red pentagram through the stump.

Forrest yelled and scrambled to get away from the… whatever that was! Forrest ran in the direction of the camp as fast as he could. Nobody believed him when he claimed the dead rabbits were trying to resurrect the dead. They did, however, give him a drink. The man looked like he needed it.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter snickered. Memorizing the patrols was definitely worth it for this. Though that Forrest guy could really run.

|-\\\/-|

 **AN: This chapter seemed a little… off for some parts. Not because of Dexter's hobby (you'll see) but I just think it was like the whole chapter was saying a lot of needless things like Dexter screwing around when he's bored. It's a conclusion chapter in a lot of ways. It ties things up. If I could I'd just add a summary of it and timeskip I would but it just doesn't fit. I tried, believe me. It's frustrating but I don't see a way around it. I wrote an omake as a sort of consolation from me. Pretty soon will be the climax of this whole arc. I'm going to rewrite that son of a b**** as much as I have to until I get what I want. It had better be good. No. It had better be FANTASTIC! My god I have it planned out so well that I drool at the thought of writing it. It'll be so fun to write and hopefully a fantastic read… I'm grinning just thinking about it. I just laughed out loud and woke up my dog. Sorry dog.**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: The timeskip! The most irritating yet helpful narrative device in existence! Now I'm going to try hard to get a good grasp of what the great war was like for all the members of the squad (remember that team names aren't really a thing yet since huntsman teams are under direct government control) to give some perspective from the team rather than Dexter.**

 **Keep in mind that EVERY viewpoint is skewed with bias even if just in some small way. This is my way of clarifying the relationships between the team and how they're going to develop under the timeskip that will be fleshed out more at the next chapter. It isn't going to be any huge gains for anyone post-timeskip. Just small stuff like Joan getting a grasp on those aura techniques and Mancer making his weapons less useless against large grimm. Tonfas are great for breaking bones but against the thick hide and armor of a grimm? Well… he has to charge up his semblance, which isn't really quick to fill up. It's no spoiler for me to tell you that by the way. Anyways, enjoy.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 18**

 **The passing of time**

 **Joan**

Books, swords, and armor. Those were the three things Joan needed to live. People were all well and good but in Joan's experience people needed… things. People needed you to talk with them. Do things with them. At the absolute best you would have to simply be around them but even then it was never really worth it.

It was for this reason Joan liked Dexter. Rella needed formality and politeness. A sort of discipline. Joan had the discipline but that doesn't mean he wanted to keep it up all the time. Mancer needed social contact. This would normally be bad but Mancer was easygoing and not particularly hard to talk to. He kept up a conversation with very little effort on Joan's part. Laura would be nice as a friend but she attached herself to Dexter at the hip most of the time and was off on her own the rest of the time. Dexter required nothing from him. It was for this reason that he and Dexter could be called friends.

It had been noticeable from the minute he had met Dexter that the two would be friends. Not when he had been a dog of course. He doubted Dexter had even remembered it as anything of even remote interest. Joan had asked him about his semblance while he was reading as an idle thought. Dexter didn't hesitate for a moment. He recited everything about it.

Joan paused when he was done and glanced at Dexter. He had returned to fiddling with a sword he had found without any expectation of conversation from Joan.

In curiosity Joan had done something he didn't often do. He struck up a conversation. Dexter had, surprisingly, known about plenty of books. It was refreshing.

Joan had tested Dexter quite a bit on what books he read. On some points Dexter didn't know of the subject he asked but on everything else Dexter was fairly well educated. Grimm anatomy especially was something he knew well. Anything complex like the political ramifications of the heavy trade between Mantle and Mistral was something Dexter would flat out not talk about. If he didn't know of a subject he stated it plainly. Nonetheless Dexter was fairly well educated. Not to the extent of noble birth like Rella or himself but to call him uneducated would be plain wrong.

It was around the end of the conversation that Joan smiled. Dexter was someone he could have an easy friendship with. The others would be close teammates but Dexter had the potential to be a friend.

Joan proved himself right. When he didn't want to be bothered Dexter wouldn't bother him. When he wanted to talk Dexter would almost always allow it. When he couldn't was only because he was busy which was perfectly fine with Joan.

It wasn't for some time that Joan and Dexter's relationship could really be called friendship. Joan had seen Dexter's bag of tricks and was very impressed. Using his feet wasn't something Joan had really considered before. He had basic kicks when he wasn't using his shield but using his shield to conceal kicks wasn't something he had considered before. Not to mention the other sneaky tricks he had. Joan learned quite a lot from sparring.

Not too much later on he had begun learning some aura techniques as well. Typically Joan acted as a "tank" for his teammates but clearly that wasn't needed with the styles of the others. Nobody was specialized for long range. Dexter could do so but he simply had no reason to. That aura he had could be used for more that just backup for if he got hit, which wasn't often when he used his shield.

Spending more time with Dexter had certainly firmly forged a bond of friendship. The two weren't just teammates. They were comrades. Friends. That was something Joan had few of.

 **Rella**

Rella grew up harshly. Discipline was and is prized in the Goodwitch household. It was why they were so successful as a family with a legacy of huntsmen. The family was renowned as solely semblance fighters. The Goodwitch family couldn't be said to have a hereditary semblance like some select huntsman families do but in more than seventeen generations there had not been one Goodwitch who had a semblance unsuited for being the primary weapon in combat.

Telekinesis, frost manipulation, spatial manipulation, and a few other variants. Even time manipulation cropped up a few times. Certainly quite powerful, all of them. It was generally accepted that the Goodwitch family members would have some sort of manipulation ability. Then Rella came along.

Rella lived in near hiding for eight years as she learned to control her semblance with her family. Even for a family as renowned as the Goodwitch line this was questioned. They had a very good reason for it though.

Rella couldn't just make golems of her aura. That was just a part of it. Rella could manipulate life. Life manipulation.

When Rella first used her semblance she killed her pet cat. She waved her hand and the cat simply fell and died. She still remembered not knowing what happened. Beyond that the memories blurred. She faintly remembers screaming and creating a patch of dead grass.

It was always far easier to take life than make it.

With years of practice Rella had learned to control her semblance far better than most could claim. She knew that revealing such a powerful semblance would make her a target for everyone in remnant. So she passed it off as golem construction. She simply added life to a construct and gave it a purpose. Then she let it die.

Rella constantly lamented that she couldn't wave her hand and kill grimm. Grimm weren't alive in some odd way. Rella couldn't just kill them with her semblance. Grasp that thread in them that every living being had and snap it. Grimm had no thread. Perhaps they really were spirits or demons.

In the end it didn't matter. Rella would live and inherit her family as heirs tended to do as a hunter would.

Well… that's what would happen. Then the war came. Rella didn't much care to join. She had some experience as a huntsman so she was conscripted into a team. At first it was annoying. Then the team grew on her.

A year of service would draw anyone to friendship in such an environment as a team. There was Mancer, who she had a mutual dislike for with him. Fine so she was just a little bit racist but he had wronged her so she treated him badly right back and that was it. Anyways, there was Joan, who she would admit to liking despite his rather standoffish attitude. Laura, someone she could call both her friend and leader with pride. And Dexter, who was only sometimes irritating. He was a little like an annoying little brother to her.

It had taken a year to really grow close to them all. A year filled with work. Moving from one town plagued by grimm and the perils of war to another. At least by the end of the first year most every civilian had been evacuated or conscripted.

In the end it didn't really matter how long the war drew on to her. She had her team to help and rely on when things got tough. Eventually she would get back to her family and do her duties as expected of her. Until then…

"Mancer! Get back here with my tea! Do you know how hard that is to find now?!"

 **Mancer**

Mancer knew he wasn't a smart man. Not smart, strong, or… anything. You could look to Dexter and Laura and even Joan sometimes - and see them acting as seemingly endless wells of strength. Powerhouses beyond so many others. You could look to Joan and Rella and see the nobility and education on them as plain as a shirt too. Laura was worldly - more than he was by a long shot, and Dexter had this sort of ruthless pragmatism at times. He could keep calm and logical when nobody else could. But… When one looked to Mancer you would see a faunus brat playing huntsman with a few shreds of skill. He had no immense skill or outstanding talent. He had no family to back him up. No gimmick to catch people off guard. Nothing of note.

Mancer's story had been told a hundred times. Faunus brat tossed to the streets after being "saved" from slavery. Homelessness and warring with social stigmas wasn't much better. The death rate was still disturbingly high. He had been thrown around plenty before finding he had a slight knack for fighting. He could still remember standing in the alley with five groaning and moaning human brats on the filthy ground. It was then he knew that he had but one small talent. Just a little but even a speck was better than nothing.

Mancer hadn't much talent compared to many, obviously. However what he did have was freedom and the hard work that comes from sheer stubbornness of a desperate need to just… be decent at _something_. Where one child would have bed at nine and to wake up at eight Mancer stayed awake half the night fighting thugs for some experience in combat or training his reflexes, strength, and speed like a man possessed.

Where one might be forbidden from handling weapons until they were thirteen Mancer had stolen his first pair of batons at ten (He would have preferred anything bladed whatsoever but they were all he could grab and from there all he could learn). The extra time helped him nurture his shred of talent beyond what most would have.

Mancer had tried his hand at mercenary work at an early age. Around his earlier teen years though the exact date is a little foggy. Eating more meant more bills to pay and his stronger body let him actually compete with others realistically. It didn't suit him. Mercenaries lived to die. They were common and thuggish. He was better than that be it through his training or some divine providence.

With his skill it hadn't taken terribly long for Mancer to end up as a renegade huntsman - a huntsman with no formal training but who works independently to do essentially the same thing for cash. Mercenaries with a moral code and a government eye looking over them. Oh, and aura. So very helpful that. Sure thugs had aura but it was merely a forcefield for them. Mancer struck gold early on and trained to enhance his strength, speed, and stamina with aura. He was self taught but good enough.

When he ended up in the war years later he had a half built house he was making himself, sweetheart, and a running job to protect the locals of the sizable hamlet in the hills he lived in. Conscription into the hunter corps wasn't particularly surprising for Mancer. He was of some renown in a few circles, after all. Besides, he was getting paid to fight. It was a pleasant little upside of being a mercenary and too valuable to anger.

Then he had met his teammates. It had been made clear quickly how the group was going to work. Dexter was a decent fellow and deadlier than nightshade. The two were something approaching friends. Dexter was something like friends with everybody really. He and JOan had each other back to back and it was doubtful that anything but death could seperate them. Laura and Dexter had… something. Something complicated that Dexter couldn't really notice. Best to just not talk about that really. And even Rella was okay with Dexter though she was her usual almost-bitchy self.

Joan was alright if you looked past his standoffish attitude, which he somewhat beat back after a year or so. He didn't care for Mancer being a faunus, which was rare for most high-born families. That was what kickstarted their mutual comradery. Not quite friends though. Comrades without doubt but true friends? Nah. They would leave and go their separate ways after they leave. He's a street orphan who wants a quiet life and Joan's an heir to a legacy of incredible huntsmen and even knights before that fell out of fashion some decades ago.

Laura was a rather good leader compared to many and Mancer could gladly call her his leader and friend. Not a very common combination even in hunter teams. He could attribute it to her natural sociability and an actual desire to be friends with people. It was just a feeling but he was pretty sure Laura was one of those people who loved friends like family and family like they were worth more than their own life. He knew a few of those kinds of people besides Laura. And like most wanderers she didn't give a rat's ass if he was a faunus, human, or a damned narwhal for all that it mattered. She was a good person and that was worth being friends with.

Rella was… difficult. Mancer could and has openly admit to disliking her and she's done the same after some prodding. Her and his relationship was based entirely upon tolerance for the other. Dexter never seemed to notice it but she was a racist, though not an outspoken one. SHe had looked to his ears with disdain and some slight disgust for a few weeks before she lessened it to a grudging tolerance and finally actually tolerance that Dexter was a nice guy and a good person. Of course, with his usual lack of social awareness Dexter missed the whole thing about racism. He tended to ignore that stuff.

Now with Mancer being a faunus himself and knowing which humans were racist or not… well he acted as he always did. He turned away and considered her worth less than the dirt on his boots. That was one mistake but it was enough. Rella was a highborn. A noble. And a bitch by nature.

Sure to Dexter she didn't piss him off since he had it good and chummy with Laura, who knew the king and was real strong and Joan was a noble like her so obviously she and him were on okay terms at least but Mancer? Nope. Nothing. Just a faunus who treated her disdain. So she gave it right back. Mutual dislike at it's finest. She never really got over her racism but she at least hid it and worked with him when she had to. And with that relationship settled into something solid they left it at that and silently vowed to never actually enjoy each other's presence. Done and done.

It had taken him a few months before he realized something. Everyone else in the group was exceptional. Joan was a brilliant thinker and could easily kick ass with his swordsmanship. When he unlocked his semblance he made the people around him even more badass than they already were. Dexter had an armory at his disposal and sometimes seemed to be constantly improving. Laura was a force of nature. That she was a master swordsman on top of that sometimes seemed absurd. Who needed swords when you could simply make the world go into an ice age? Even Rella, the second weakest on the team, had her golems do manual labor to pitch in. Mancer was… what? He could take out deserters and outlaws by the dozens even on his own but so could everybody else here.

Mancer was strong. A capable huntsman. But… the others were exceptional. On that first day when Dexter and Laura had sparred he had seen the landscape warp under their power. Wasn't he supposed to be one of the best at hunting people? No. Apparently not.

It was only rubbed in by his current profession. He hunted down grimm. _GRIMM!_ What the hell was the military thinking?! Mancer had suited everything for hunting people. Bandits, criminals, the occasional rogue huntsman. He hunted them. He looked to his teammates as they mowed through grimm and he was reminded constantly of how he was the weakest link.

It took a long time for him to beat his insecurity. Three years, to be precise. As the others grew weary they proposed a homebase. A sanctuary that they could build. Mancer had held out the longest. Then one day they went on a mission.

It was in a town called Tsubaki. Mistralian. They were called to defend it. Only rarely were Valean hunters called to defend Mistralian settlements. Especially as the grudges piled up and the hatred grew between the two sides.

Mancer had been suspicious. So he bribed a guard. He learned that his team were called away so that the Valean encampment north of the settlement would be targeted and overrun. Thus the settlement wouldn't have to defend against the Valeans or the grimm.

He had wasted no time telling the team. They had prematurely struck out at the grimm, flaring their auras to attract them. As the horde was killed by the traps they had set and the team themselves Mancer had taken a long look at his team.

He had done this. He had found what he thought was the best possible outcome because of his suspicion. If he hadn't been here the encampment would have been overrun by grimm. He hadn't helped. He had been the factor between success and failure of a sort.

Maybe he wasn't the strongest. But that was okay. He'd just have to keep an eye out. Nobody goes through their lives alone. He would be there when his teammates fell. He would never be the best. But he would be there. And maybe that was okay.

Oh, that might be ironic. He'd be gone pretty soon actually. Just one more year before he could go back to his sweetheart and child… maybe he should tell his team…

 **Laura**

Laura loved Dexter. That was something she was rather certain of. There was a problem, though. He didn't love her back. She was certain of that as well. It had begun early on. In their first year. She had come down with a horrible cold. Maybe even fatal. Dexter had immediately taken her to a healer. He had run for three days straight with all their supplies. She wouldn't be able to hold on to him while flying and he didn't trust her to tie herself to him in her dazed state. So he ran.

She woke up in fits of sneezing and even vomited once. When she was treated she was told that she likely would have died if she hadn't received attention. She had gotten the flu. In settlements people almost always survived the flu with proper treatment but on the road with grimm? One of the dangers of travelling alone she supposed.

It wasn't until later she realized that she could have died. She had been told, of course, but it hadn't really registered with her. She hadn't understood until then. He had pushed himself beyond the limit to help her. Something had changed in her chest then though she didn't quite know what.

Two years later and she was coming to be reasonably certain she loved him. It was a slow thing really. Normally that would be great for her since Dexter was, of course, an amazing person but obviously there was something hugely wrong with their relationship since they weren't courting or, brothers permit, married. There were her maiden powers between them and Dexter being… different from others. There was also her duty to the kingdom and Dexter's still shrouded past. There was Dexter's lack of social awareness, her contentment with how things were between them for the moment, and oh, you know, THE WAR THEY WERE IN! There were so many other obstacles in the way of her courting him.

When she had gotten her team she had wanted him to take a backseat. Be a little safer. Of course that didn't last… at all. Still, she had tried. It struck her that she had truly tried to keep him safe. It was foolish but then again she had done so without thinking about it. But wasn't that what love was? Trying to help those you love without hesitation? Without thought? It made her smile plenty of times.

For two years she kept herself mostly on a leash. She had kissed him once when she was certain he was sleeping. She had blushed whenever she looked at him for a week afterwards. There was also a small bit of shame in kissing him when he was asleep. She only did so twice more before deciding that she absolutely had to stop. It was dishonorable to him to do so in the first place.

It was after two years that she was losing control. She had sent a letter to the king in desperation. In all honesty she would have attempted to court him already and damn the consequences if it wasn't for one thing. Just one horribly irritating endlessly frustrating fact.

There were no condoms allowed into the colonies. Soldiers didn't bring them either.

The colonies needed high birth rates to combat the grimm and do work. It wasn't anything horrible and just an accepted fact of the colonies that children had to be born often to make a settlement actually last more than a generation.

Laura refused - absolutely **refused** \- to have a child in a warlike environment. Having a child in war was just a bad idea but raising a child would be cruel and she would not abandon a child of hers to an orphanage. So she had written to the king begging for a home to raise a child with the man she loved. He had been… happy in a way. He stated that she had a promotion to commander and the permission to establish a resupply base provided she could construct one without requiring military support exceeding seven thousand five hundred lien. A paltry sum. Not that she really needed it. She and the others had gotten lott from bandit and deserter camps, as the law allowed, many times over and had a fair amount of wealth each. Especially Dexter, who had some sort of magpie syndrome she suspected.

Immediately Laura started construction of a base. Rella's golems were incredibly helpful. It took three months but their little bunker was done. Wooden beams for support and solid furniture made from the surrounding oak and maple. It was rather hard for Mancer, Joan, and Dexter to learn carpentry but they got the basics. Mancer was the best at it so he did most of the work. Dexter had an eye for detail so he made the works look nice. Joan did the labor of cutting the wood. It was two more months before it felt more like a home.

Finally then there was only one more thing to do. She started courting Dexter. She wasn't one for subtlety with her actually being able to pursue him on every account so she tried getting touchy. She tried spending time privately. She even tried bedroom eyes… maybe she should have asked him for a date…

Either way it didn't matter. She received a letter from the king again. She was asked to fight in the first battle of Vacuo. Mantle finally stopped passively supporting Mistral and instead is actively getting involved in the war. With that change Vacuo leapt in on the side of Vale. Now all four are ready to kick off a new campaign in Vacuo with all four armies.

Of course Vale needed to represent themselves. The battle would be indicative of the power of the kingdoms and quite likely be a major turning point to where the war really picks up now that every kingdom was actively involved. The king himself would be there. He bargained that if Laura joined the battle and gave it her all she would be retired with Dexter. He stated that he would perform the ceromonies himself if she wished. She would be provided for. She could have children. She could finally stop travelling. She could have a home.

The king also hinted at forcing Dexter to marry her using blackmail or force. She had responded with an intricate drawing of him… mounting himself from behind… she never knew she had an eye for yaoi but it seems that while the king was not pleased he was glad that she would act justly with a man she loved.

(Laura didn't know it but the king was fully willing to sacrifice one man for the might of a maiden devoted to him. When he saw Laura's hand drawn picture of him he had laughed so hard he fell out of his office's chair. His personal guard, fearing the noise was some kind of potent laughing poison of some sort after a minute and a half of straight laughter, had come in concerned and had laughed at the picture as well. The whole guard squadron then burned the picture on a pike in the courtyard to repent their liege's honor. Such loyal guards he had.)

Laura had, however, agreed on a compromise. She certainly wouldn't force Dexter but she wasn't going to lose to any other woman with bright ideas. Legally Dexter's name would be changed to Dexter Frost. He would also be legally barred from marriage to other women. Laura felt a little concerned that Dexter would feel constricted by his new legal limitations but it wasn't like he really cared about legality all that much. Besides, Laura was certain that they would end together. This was more of a mark against other women that he was hers.

In the end Laura decided on the deal quite easily. Self expression was something she firmly believed in (as shown by her yaoi drawing) and a happy ending… such a tempting deal. Of course, the king was shrewd albeit honest. He would honor the deal if she were to take it… so she did. She would fight for a better future. There was still her biggest obstacle of Dexter's lack of romantic love for her but she was confident that she could have him fall for her. Maybe she could prove herself to his mother he respects so much and get advice from her? It bears merit. She would have to be at the wedding after all.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Nothing here. Go to your regularly scheduled programming. I've got inspiration for my other fic and I'm not going to waste it.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 19**

 **The home**

 _*Thunk*..._

 _*Thunk*..._

 _*Thunk*..._

Rella sighed irritably. "Dexter can you please do that somewhere else? "

Dexter threw another dart at the dartboard and ignored Rella. Normally throwing darts wouldn't be a challenge but when almost a hundred meters away it began to get interesting.

At the moment the group of four were resting at a place they could call home. After two years wandering from one town to another constantly fighting almost every group of hunters had found some army group to stick with. Dexter's group hadn't. Instead Laura had sent a letter back home asking to set up a base of operations for a time. It was approved so long as the four could provide food, water, shelter, and most importantly safety to any group of hunters passing by.

As everybody was eager to start after a long two years of duty It was decided unanimously to start right away. The four found a nice mountainside with a lake in the hills to start with. The four had decided on a bunker for safety reasons and so Dexter had easily dug a network of tunnels and rooms underground. The others laid down supports and covered the walls with wooden beams or, in the nicer parts, stone.

Water from the lake, food from game, and safety and shelter in the bunker. Truly a paradise in war.

In the bunker was a cache of common dust, various weapon parts, preserved food and water, an abundance of beds, a stocked workshop, and whatever other simple amenities might be needed. Outside was a small camp which had a range, training yard, camping ground (for any large detachment of soldiers), and the beginnings of an array of cabins that built up over time. After learning that the team had constructed a bunker the kingdom of Vale was thrilled to supply it with whatever was needed so long as they could station some soldiers from time to time.

It had been one year since the construction of the place that was beginning to look like home. Other than finding a place to make their claim plenty else had happened on a more personal scale.

Dexter had focused more on his aura reserves and techniques and manipulating his bones. He could just as easily make a battleaxe as a sword now. There were also his techniques which included some neat tricks such as walking on walls. It was mostly used by assassins but Dexter used the technique to climb cliffs swiftly. Best of all was the long range beam attack and a few other attacks.

He could also match Laura with his sabre now, to her annoyance. That didn't last long, though. Dexter had been encouraged by Rella and Mancer in particular to try learning new weapons. Dexter had the potential to transform his weapons into other weapons mid-strike and hit completely differently. Dexter had been reluctant but saw the potential and started trying to get competent with a variety of weaponry. He was still best at his sabre but he had tried out spears, daggers, and other types of swords. He had tried out a halberd but anything resembling an axe Dexter just couldn't do. He had tried a scythe too. He had found he was best with the scythe to a degree and he was quite good with spears and staffs. He typically just used a spear as a staff and used it as both when necessary. A scythe was a bit of an esoteric weapon as well. It wouldn't be used often.

Still the dragon form didn't feel ready. He could do a sort of giant lizard at least. That was a start. He had turned into plenty of other grimm though. Deathstalkers without poison (Dexter called them pokers jokingly. Laura coined the term. Only Rella called them deathstalkers now), beringels, and other types of more medium sized grimm were within his reach now though he didn't really need them, but still the large grimm, the weapons of destruction he needed, were out of his reach. His aura size wasn't even the problem anymore. Something… more was required. What it was that was required, however, was a mystery.

He had also began his hobby of making plushies in ernest. It was rather slow going. Oil became a precious commodity a few months after the escort mission. It was also becoming more uncommon for him to have free time so he had gotten better at making them from scratch without oils or fur.

All of the money he made from his plushies or, far more profitably, raiding the deserters. Hunters and huntresses were allowed by the rules of warfare to loot the goods of deserters and take all they could carry. Dexter just took all of the dust and valuables he could find since he could transform. Roughly two thirds of the loot went to the rest of the team, though. Dexter spent all of the lien he found buying supplies for his hobby and spent the rest of the lien buying jewelry and heirlooms from the refugees that needed lien. It was good to have wealth, Dexter thought.

Laura had focused on becoming a better leader. She was strong in combat and only became better as time went on but leading was something new. Her only real tactic so far had been to split up the squad and kill everything independently. Plenty of room for improvement there. She also tried to do little improvements to the team here and there. Dexter still felt humiliated from when she had made a 'nevermoore saddle'. Laura had eventually given that up. Saddlebags were still hotly debated. Mostly Laura saying please and Dexter refusing to answer or glaring at her.

Joan had finally gotten a few combat aura techniques under his belt. Solid projection was one of his favorites. He often used it to make an aura sword from somewhere and stab somebody. His semblance made the thing look practically on fire. It could cut through trees if he burned aura fast. He had also gotten the blast that Dexter used for high speed movement. It was too powerful for him to use with his semblance supercharging it and his small amount of mass in comparison to a giant beowolf. Of far more concern than the techniques was his addition of a flamethrower on his left wrist instead of a shotgun. It took a few weeks for him to tire of playing pyromaniac. Nobody had wanted to spar with him after the everybody received first degree burns. Laura banned it in spars. The grimm suffered for the next few months. Then it ran out of fuel for the first time. Now Joan rations it.

Mancer had, thank the gods, gotten some firepower. Sure his fighting style was good against people but anything more than a beowolf he had had trouble against. Eventually he had given in and gotten some high explosive grenades. Those certainly evened out the odds against the larger grimm.

Rella had tried to control her semblance better and get her aura reserves bigger. She had finally been able to make more golems after a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. They were also stronger and more durable. Her exercises were more slow going but she was making progress. She had also picked up using throwing daggers with some (a lot of) help from Dexter. She decided she might as well have some way of attacking while her golems do the heavy lifting. Everyone appreciated the extra help. Dexter appreciated it far less. Rella was terrible with weapons. It had taken most of a year to get her to throw straight.

Of some interest to Dexter was his friendship to Laura. The two had seemingly drifted apart a little for a year and a half but then Laura began pursuing Dexter. Aggressively.

Dexter wasn't blind to Laura's affections. Sleeping in a hammock when the two were pressed against each other wasn't something even the closest of friends did, after all. Well, actually it was platonic for a few months but that was more Laura's naievity than Dexter's denial. Laura had been far more affectionate the past month to Dexter personally. Hugs became common, she smiled at him more often, and even blushed a few times.

Perhaps it was that Dexter had become her longest companion, a total of five years together in total. Perhaps it was the non-intervention policy that the others had adopted taken as some sort of approval. Dexter didn't really know. Laura had kept up the affections for several months now, though.

Whatever it was Dexter didn't return the affections. He didn't deny them, he didn't want to hurt Laura's feelings, but he didn't return them either. Dexter was a grimm. It was simply what he was. Starting a relationship in a war as well was generally a bad idea in Dexter's opinion. Even in the safe environment the team had to keep the surroundings clear of grimm and deserters. Missions also happened every so often during emergencies. Besides that he didn't care for a relationship with Laura. She was his best friend. He had, however tested whether he could create sperm. He could. Whether they were… functional was unclear but he could. He attributed it to being a faunus that it became his new "Base form". He had spent so much time in his faunus skin that his old beowolf form felt uncomfortable after a while. Being a faunus was just more natural now than being a beowolf.

It could also be in his DNA. Did his shapeshifting take form from creatures already in existence? It was doubtful. Perhaps he could transform into creatures he had been in contact with however vaguely? Probably bone weapons were a testament to that. He might be able to copy organic material that he came in contact with and recreate it at will. He had stepped on a few aquatic grimm when he went swimming a few times. He had also seen some nevermoore feathers, and he was previously a beowolf so no surprise there. He had never seen a cat but he wasn't actually using anything new there. Just using what he already had to make something different. Same goes for humans. He had been pretty close to them before he transformed.

These were only theories Dexter had. He put the most stock in the last one though.

All in all the squad had grown more deadly and versatile though they had some more personal problems to be dealt with. So much time together had also gotten them closer than before… excepting moments like this of course.

 _*Thunk*_

Rella let her book fall to her lap with a soft thump as she growled in annoyance. "If you don't want to be disturbed why did you come to the range?" Dexter said. If one didn't know him they could almost mistake the slight mocking tone for curiosity. Rella, of course, knew Dexter well.

"I wanted to read _outside_. There's nowhere else to sit but here."

"There's a whole empty lot-" Dexter pointed to the lot for effect. "-Right there. We cleaned it yesterday if your memory isn't getting spotty."

"The lot is infested with scorpions! You know this!"

Dexter scoffed and rolled his eyes as he returned to throwing the darts. Of course he knew. He just wished Rella wouldn't complain about him using the range when it was meant to be used in this fashion… well not for darts but everyone did it anyways. Majority rules were in effect. A few minutes passed in silence as Rella tried to ignore the sound.

With a growl Rella put the book down again and made to sit up but before anything could happen Laura walked in. "Dinner's ready. Joan's night in case you don't remember." Before waiting for a reply she jogged back out towards the waiting food.

Dexter perked up a little and decided to be a little flashy. He lightly put his hand on the table holding his darts up and focused. A webbing of bone appeared over the table with a slight crackling and a tendril appeared. It grew and size and, with surprising speed, snaked towards the dartboard. It swiftly grew over the darts and stalled for a moment. It then drew the darts off the board and returned back to the webbing. In moments the tendril placed the darts back in their casing and the webbing and tendril disappeared.

Dexter stood upwards and shook his head lightly. Using bone remotely like that was always disorienting. It was still better than walking at least. It was good practice too. Say… what night is it anyways?

As if hearing his thoughts Rella answered. "It's venison night. Joan decided on a skewer with radishes and wild onions if I recall.

"Thanks you." Dexter said with a nod. He and Rella made their way to the bunker in silence. Without prompting Dexter opened the double door to the bunker easily and walked in after Rella. As the two made their way down the tunnel Dexter struck up a conversation.

"Didn't you read 'King's gambit' last month? Are we out of books?"

"More like out of luck. Albreddo was robbed last time he passed by. Did you not notice that we were out of oil for your plushies?"

"I'm working on leather armor more as of late. Joan's made me plenty of buckles and such for the armor. I just need better leather. It's not density or anything. I just need to make it more durable than normal leather so I haven't focused much on my plushies as of late. The storehouse is also still full from Albreddo's robbery. The deserters took his lien, of course. He's getting more from back home so he can buy more than usual and hire protection this time."

"Who does he sell the plushies to anyways? Has he told you yet?"

"Not specifically. He keeps saying they're wildly popular in Vacuo and they're making money in Vale but… well I assume they're being sold to most people in Vacuo since they're at peace still but I can't fathom who buys them in Vale."

"They're probably for fetishes."

"... I wish you were wrong but…Ugh."

With Dexter's pride sufficiently beaten down the duo arrived at the dining room, which was next to the mess hall. Nobody actually knew how to make a table that wouldn't wobbly so they made benches instead to eat at for their dinners. People only ate at the table when they had to, though. Nobody really wanted to eat in what amounted to a very nice cave. It was always dusty.

Laura and Mancer were already at the bench chowing down. Joan barely paid attention as he finished dishing up the other three plates. Dexter could smell the venison. It had clearly been soaked in red wine, salted (only Joan was allowed to use that. It was too precious to waste with anyone else's subpar cooking), and sprinkled with rosemary. There were also radishes glazed with honey and salted. Joan was really feeling the salt today it seems.

Dexter crept behind Joan and swiped a plate when he was finished with it. Joan didn't notice or didn't care as he was dishing up the third plate. Rella politely accepted her plate from Joan instead of stealing it like the others always did. It was more force of habit than anything else. Joan would certainly give the plate if anyone accepted it like a normal person but why run the risk? Or wait for that matter. Joan sometimes just couldn't tell when to stop adding that last pinch of salt when it truly didn't matter. Normally a good thing but not when people were hungry.

As Dexter dug in Laura looked up from her already half finished meal. She cleared her throat commandingly. It got everyone's attention a little bit, which was enough.

Laura stood up and backed out of the bench, which simply wasn't done on Joan's cooking night, and stood straight. Now she had everyone's full attention. This 'Laura' was likely an imposter. Nobody could resist Joan's cooking for more than a few seconds.

"I have some sad news everyone. Today we received new orders. We're being transferred to the front lines. Well, what will pretty soon become the front lines." Shock was what everyone was feeling at that. It was a huge change of pace. "In Vacuo." A fork clattered to the plate. Everyone jumped at the sound and Joan looked surprised at the absence of a fork in his hand.

"Sorry." He muttered softly.

"Ah, yes." Laura continued. "Well we weren't informed of this but Vacuo was seemingly undergoing negotiations with Atlas and things got… violent. That said Atlas is now joining the war directly. Troops, guns, dust. The whole package. Not just supplies to Mistral but full on joining the war as a combatant. With that move Vacuo was pressured into joining our side. They do have the whole 'if you can survive you're allowed' deal going on there so no big surprise."

Getting over the confusion after the bomb Laura just dropped was hard but Dexter managed it. "So… how do we get to Vacuo?"

"Walking obviously." Laura smiled softly as the groans began.

"Laura… No." Dexter said with his fiercest glare. "I'm not walking to the other side of remnant." The others echoed the same opinion but then Laura broke into laughter.

"Oh gods you all made the most painful grimace I've seen in years! Hahahaha!"

Dexter sighed and hid a smile. "So flying? Ship? Or are we really walking?" Laura cut off her laughter but kept her full blown smirk on full blast. She started sitting back down as she explained.

"Right. The letter actually came from a messenger that came from a ship on a horse. He and I will be heading out tomorrow on our own and I'll meet the rest of you after a meeting with the King in Vale. Then I wait for your sorry asses to trek down to the city so we can head out together. I was offered to move with Dexter to a new squad or take you guys along if you cared to come with me. So you want to stay here and keep the outpost set or come along with me to the front?"

Without hesitation Joan and Rella echoed "The front." but Mancer, surprisingly, looked hesitant.

"Wait, you're the one to hesitate?" Joan asked incredulously. Mancer didn't bother to glare or anything. He looked worried for some reason.

"Do you all remember when I told you about Galla?"

Dexter Let out an "Oh." as he recalled her. Years ago Mancer told the squad about a woman he was sweet on back in his hometown. Galla was a cow faunus in Dexter's hometown who Mancer was sweet on. She was apparently stunningly beautiful with tan skin spotted black who was the kindest person Mancer had ever met. It was apparent to everyone that Mancer harbored feelings for her.

"She sent me a letter some time ago that she never told me but… she was pregnant four years ago. My kid." Laura, who was taking a drink at the time, coughed on the water she was drinking. "I sent her one back asking if I should come back and she said it was fine but… I want to be there for my kid. My conscripted time ends in a month and I'd like to get back to make up for what I missed. I was planning on telling you all in a few weeks."

A silence came over the bench for a solid minute before one word came out. "Wow." Laura said. "Any more massive surprises in wait? Anyone?"

Nobody spoke for a few seconds. "Ah, so the four of us then. Now I believe we have something to do now…" Laura looked with a fury in her eyes towards Mancer. Dexter's eyes widened as he saw Rella's cold smile. That was BAD. Rella smiling like that meant run for your life bad. So run Dexter did.

Dexter snatched his and Rella's plate and jumped away from the bench. Joan, in a true act of the bro code, grabbed his and Mancer's as he did the same. The two of them looked back only briefly at a noise.

Laura had lunged across the table and grabbed Mancer's right shoulder. Rella had ran out her side for his left. "YOU DARED TO ABANDON YOUR CHILD FOR FOUR FUCKING YEARS?!" Laura roared. Rella's face had not moved from her sub-zero smile yet in her eyes was a dark glee.

"No please!" Mancer cried out. "I was young! I never had sex-ed! I wasn't told! I promised to marry her! Oh god just don't kill me!" Dexter and Joan ran out at top speed with their food as the screams echoed through the tunnels. The light from the lanterns seemed duller than ever.

In less than a minute the two were out in the dark with their food. Without even communicating the two trudged over to the range and slumped down on two chairs. The meal was eaten in silence in respect for their fallen brother.

After a minute a unique scream of pain was heard echoing out from the bunker. Mancer had made that scream once when a small beowolf headbutted him in his privates. Dexter and Joan winced in sympathy and crossed their legs. May their brother rest in peace… although that was unlikely. Maybe the women would stop when he was unconscious? … Well probably not but one could only hope.

Another scream and a faint "Please not there!" made the two hope harder.

|-\\\/-|

It was near mid-day when the messenger turned escort arrived. Or, more specifically, woke up. The young man had somehow slept through Mancer's torture in a room in the tunnels. How he did was a mystery.

"Just fly. I know you'll do it anyways." Laura said with a sigh. Joan and Rella laughed awkwardly. Dexter smiled slightly and rolled his eyes. Of course they'd fly. What were they going to swim across the eastern strait?

"I'll lock down the bunker and head out in a month." Mancer said with a wary glance towards Laura and Rella. The two glared at him and he flinched.

"You better." Rella said with an ominous calm.

"Why wouldn't I?" Mancer grumbled.

"You ready to go Davis?" Laura called to the courier. He nodded as he petted his horse.

"Well… Bye." Laura smiled but then peered at Dexter curiously. Dexter shifted his eyes under the intense gaze. For a few seconds nothing happened.

Dexter glanced at the courier, Davis, as he hopped on his horse. Those are some pretty full saddlebags… poor ho-

Dexter almost froze as Laura's mouth slammed into his. She hugged him fiercely and pulled him close. He froze for a moment and was caught between either rejecting her, which would hurt her emotionally, or accept her, which would allude to a relationship he couldn't and wouldn't commit to. When he came to he blinked at Laura's face so close to him as he continued to try to understand the situation.

Blushing and with an out of breath whisper Laura said "I know you're not quite human. I'm not quite either you know. We can make something work. Just… let's give it a shot."

Laura hopped onto the horse and leveled a sort of look onto the courier. He quickly cracked the reigns but not before giving Dexter a thumbs up and a grin. Dexter blinked dumbly. He shook his head a little and realized the consequences of what had just happened. Uh oh. Not good.

"So… you can't hide anymore Dexter." Joan said cheerily. Dexter frowned while still facing away from Joan. They were misreading the situation. Again.

"Are Joan and I the only single people here?" Rella wondered out loud. The two looked at each other.

"No." Joan said solemnly

"Certainly not." Rella sniffed. And that was that. Not that anybody actually expected them to be together.

"... So should we wait for a minute or…"

|-\\\/-|

Rella and Joan chatted or napped above him for a long time. Dexter had grudgingly put on saddlebags with no small degree of protest. In the end, though, Joan had bribed him with cooking and Rella had threatened him until he had given in. What great teammates he had.

Dexter had actually been flying for two days straight. Occasionally he would launch a beam of weaponized aura to a particularly dense pack of grimm but there was no real reason or focus in it. Over the idle time he had contemplated what to do about Laura. Just… what could he even do? Courting her would be, he admitted, nice. He could certainly grow to love her if he let himself do so. He was very happy with their friendship, however.

To not court her would wound her immeasurably. Dexter was very reluctant to do that. She had been with Dexter for so long now that she'd probably developed some sort of emotional dependency.. Beyond him she couldn't rely on her team for true companionship. Mancer had a girl waiting for him. He would be a family man in all likelihood within the next six months. Joan and Rella, on the other hand, were rich. They had responsibilities once the war was over. Besides that they had their own lives to tend to away from the war.

Loyalty to his mother, Dexter would admit, was a weak reason to not pursue Laura but a reason nonetheless. Was there really anything he was doing for his mother? She told him to wander and so he had been. It wasn't like there was any imminent goal coming up. It could be centuries before mother called for him. She might even forget about him…

Dexter would be checking up on his mother somewhat soon it seemed.

|-\\\/-|

"FLUFFY DO NOT CHEW ON THE SEER'S TENTACLES! IT DISRUPTS THE SIGNAL!"

"BORKBORKBORKBORK-WHEEEEEEEEE"

A window to the tower of doom crashes open. A dark blur comes flying out the window. With surprising speed it plummets to the ground. Not a single beowolf even looks at the event. It was practically a weekly occurrence.

"...How many Fluffies have there been so far anyways? Couldn't be more than… Three? Hm… I should practice my queenly appearance again. Or perhaps watch more bloodshed… I do like death."

With a wave of her hand she summoned a new Fluffy. After forming he looked at the broken window questioningly. Salem ignored him and continued watching the silly humans maim each other through her seer. She absently wondered if she could get that human food, popcorn, somewhere. It sounded exquisite.

|-\\\/-|

Bah. What is he saying. Mother would never forget about her children. She valued them too much. At least the important ones and Dexter was definitely be important in her mind. Mother was too kind for her own good sometimes.

Ah that was aside from the point anyways. No imminent loyalty was required from his mother.

Dexter cawed a little tiredly. Laura was exhausting recently. Perhaps a break would be nice for a change.

|-\\\/-|

It took seven weeks for Dexter to get to Vale's Vacuan camp. It wasn't very hard to find. A point in the right direction from a friendly town was all it took. The camp flew the colorful banners of Vale and Vacuo high.

It would have been a faster trip if his passengers hadn't insisted on him sleeping. Dexter tried to lie and say that he could sleep in the air but when he said that the others looked at him in horror. It was then that he realized that he had said they were lying on a nevermoore who wasn't even conscious. They made him swear to never sleep while flying again. Dexter had reluctantly sworn he wouldn't do so for the rest of the trip. They had made regular stops ever since.

If he had been allowed to fly through the night he could have made the trip in two or four weeks if given a tailwind or headwind. He had grumbled this to the others often. They glared at him every time. Even Joan pulled his head out of his books to do so.

At any rate they were here… Now where was Laura?

|-\\\/-|

 **Almost an omake but it's cannon:**

Laura lay in Dexter's hammock she stole (He had a spare!) hanging on the rigging of the ship. The smell of it was that sort of faint dog smell that he couldn't get rid of. It helped her to sleep a little. The boat softly rocked her as she read her book. Two months at sea… Dexter could probably fly faster… maybe she should have told her team how long she was travelling for? Well… fourteen weeks wasn't bad, right? Dexter wouldn't fly straight to Vacuo, right? … uh oh.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:Laura's a yandere? Ehhh… well I wouldn't call her that. She's not going that far for Dexter. I'd call it more of an intense attachment to him. She's been alone for a while, remember? About three companions in all the time she's been a maiden and constantly on the move with people hunting her. And then Dexter shows up and he actually sticks by her through thick and thin. Obviously she's going to be attached but yeah she's taking it too far. That's kind of the point here actually. And while it is illegal for Dexter to marry someone in Vale it's not illegal for him to take a lover or something. Laura knows this and rationalizes it as 'Dexter's pretty much taken by me already. This just makes the others back off. He's mine'. As for whether this will turn out badly… well from an outsider's perspective it totally appears that way. I'd liken it to Dexter being placed in an arranged marriage by the kingdom. Sometimes it works out and sometimes not.**

 **One thing's for sure though… Dexter's not going to be happy when he finds out.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 20**

 **The essence**

"Seven weeks, Laura." Joan said tiredly. There was an irritated sternness in his voice that made Laura just sit quietly like a child being scolded with her hands in her lap. Rella stood off to the side giving Laura a similar look with her arms crossed. Dexter stood back a way laying on the couch. He was working on his bone manipulation skills a little by making tiny bone soldiers and controlling them like marionettes.

"We had to get an apartment here. I had to get a job! Granted being a stand-in librarian is a dream job but that really isn't the point. Do you know how hard it is to babysit Dexter?"

Dexter gave an indignant look to Joan. "Was selling my grimm dolls not enough? Sorry, is three quarters of our income not good enough?"

"Not when we have to take care of you. Forgetting to sleep? Really?" Dexter shrugged. It wasn't his fault people thought he needed sleep. Or food. Or water. Basic necessities are for suckers. "Anyways," Joan continued. "That it took so long for you to get back here was immensely disappointing. You should be ashamed of yourself that you forgot to tell us such a crucial detail."

"I had faith in you that you'd be fine." Laura mumbled. Rella took offense to that and lightly whacked her in the back of her head. Laura rubbed the slight bruise with a small hiss of annoyance.

Joan pinched the bridge of his nose and crossed an arm across his chest somewhat like Rella. Dexter amusedly wondered why the two weren't married yet. "Did you bring orders from the king at least?"

Laura nodded a little. Dexter saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes that she wouldn't be punished. "We're to report to Vacuan high command sometime between June fourth and seventh. That's when conflict between the armies is officially allowed. The battle isn't actually set to start then but skirmishes are expected while the army decides a movement. Not to mention the actions of the other side. With all of the moving around it's going to be more like two weeks of moving about and then a big battle. The date was set late because the king thought you would all take some time to high tail it to Vacuo. We could report to it earlier but…"

Joan smiled slightly. "So we have a month to do nothing? Good…" Dexter saw the hopeful look in Laura's eyes grow a little stronger. Behind her Rella looked at her with a cruel smile. "This small vacation gives us enough time to drill you into the ground." Laura's shoulders slumped.

"Oh, and if you haven't noticed, it's Vacuo in summer. As punishment you'll be training your semblance's longevity by chilling the air for extended periods of time." Laura's aghast and betrayed expression was enough to make Dexter chuckle a little. It brought a smile to his face.

"You… I'm not a walking piece of ice dust!" Laura protested. Joan grew a vicious smile.

"On the contrary, you can operate your semblance quite easily. What brings you down is stamina. You're suited for quick engagements. Skirmishes. We'll be put into a large battle. Dexter and I will be fine on the front lines. Rella will make some golems and relax in the back giving medical aid to the injured. You, however…" Joan gave her a critical eye. "You can't fight on the front lines. You don't have the stamina in body, semblance, or training."

" _True."_ Dexter thought. Laura was vicious and strong but she wasn't built for prolonged engagements. Her sword style reflected that as did her powers.

"You can't be on the back lines. Siege weaponry would be a waste and your skill with a bow wouldn't help without open ground to look through. So you'll be training your endurance in semblance and body."

Dexter smiled at Laura's expression. She didn't have any room to argue. She was beaten. Then he looked up a little. Rella's smile was directed to him and Joan now and Joan could see it too. "Joan will be finishing his most recent aura technique and Dexter will smooth out using his semblance for something other than transforming and weapons." Joan gave Rella a betrayed look. Dexter looked to his toy soldiers sadly. Joan had it worse though. Dexter had made that particular technique that Joan was learning himself. It was a pain to learn but it worked well for defensive purposes. It would be invaluable with Joan's semblance and… if he could add dust to it… Dexter shuddered. Joan might make S rank if he kept up training and learned a few aura techniques on par with the one he was learning right now. But back to Dexter's semblance.

Making bone constructs required concentration to operate. Dexter also needed a connection between him and them. Normally strings of soft and flexible bone worked fine. If only… The gears in Dexter's head started turning.

The others immediately noticed Dexter going into deep thought and left him to his plotting. Rella decided to finish up the training regimens. "I'll look to making more efficient designs to my golems and more of them."

The others nodded absently. When Dexter got into the zone the conversation just seemed to lose it's flow.

Laura sighed. "I might as well get started now." A cool mist permeated the air. Joan and Rella sighed at the chill after so long in the vacuan heat. Laura ignored them and started doing push ups irritatingly. No need to get a sunburn, after all.

"You'll be jogging after a ten minute break when you can't go any more." Rella said. "Five laps around Vacuo at high speeds is the goal. You should be able to do about four right now we estimate. Joan can do eight. I can do two. Dexter got bored and wandered off." Laura snorted.

The others wandered off to start their last minute training. Well, Laura starting it. The others had already been training albeit only standard skills. Nobody gave Dexter a second glance when he jumped out the window to the rooftops and jogged off towards the outskirts.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter came to a stop beyond the edges of vacuo. The houses had thinned out an hour ago. Fifteen minutes ago they had stopped altogether. Then he had gone off the roads and through a few fields out of view.

After finding a nice rock to sit on in the shade Dexter formed a bone knife since he forgot to grab his sheathed one. It was really no trouble because of his large aura reserves. Since exiting his mother's continent His reserves had doubled and a little more. He had the most aura in the team though Joan had been catching up slowly by doing the exercises Dexter had assigned to him. It had been annoying to learn that humans typically just let their auras grow naturally since they increased with age.

It had been horribly inconvenient to learn that Dexter's aura didn't increase naturally. He theorized that it didn't grow because he himself didn't grow or decay physically. Aura clearly had a physical attribute since it could interact physically with things. It wouldn't be a stretch to think that mass had a role with aura capacity. Joan had confirmed for him that larger people often had larger auras. That was on average, though. Dexter concluded that training aura was actually making it more dense like a muscle being trained and acquiring more muscle cells. Larger people had larger muscles and were thus stronger. However, someone with smaller muscles that were more dense in muscle cells could beat someone larger who had less dense muscle cells. The same idea of density and volume could be theoretically be applied to aura.

It really didn't matter. Dexter had aura and would continue to exercise it as he pleased. Besides, without aura being constantly channeled into his limbs Dexter felt weak. He was still stronger than most men without it though. It was just normal for him to enhance himself with aura at all times. He had also begun changing the placement of aura throughout his body. He really didn't need to reinforce his kidneys with aura. It was more efficient to reinforce his eyes than his stomach as well. Things like that had changed in his time with his team.

Dexter snapped out of his thoughts and got back to business. He drew back the knife and stabbed his hand clean through. With a quick snap of his hand outwards his blood scattered across the clearing. He watched closely as his blood fell. With a slight hiss his blood seemed to quiver and grow still. Then it began to dissipate to a mist and be blown away. It wasn't dense enough of a mist to carry in the wind so it really just disappeared.

He tsked in disappointment. He hadn't expected it to work the first time but it was still disappointing. He bled all the time in training after all on account of having no magical soul shield. He was lucky to have regeneration.

He sealed up the cut quickly and thought about how to make this work. Perhaps… Dexter focused for a moment and closed his eyes. He fell deep into his grimm instincts. When he opened his eyes again he looked within himself. It was like sensing for negativity but focused internally rather than externally.

It took a few seconds before Dexter glimpsed something. He looked a little more enthusiastically then. Then he saw it. It wasn't at all like aura. It was more solid. Aura was like a liquid. It flowed. This… essence, Dexter decided to call it, was like like a blood vessel. It was faint to the point that it was barely visible but it was there. It was simply so condensed out that it could only be detected in a few places. It was also shrouded in aura. However… Dexter focused on where it was and sensed it spread through his soul like a network or a spiderweb. But...The blackness was… Sticky? His aura stuck to it at any rate. It wasn't inside the blackness but around it it was more dense and oddly agitated.

Dexter had never looked too closely at his aura. He would briefly look at it when he needed to check his reserves so that he didn't exhaust himself or so that he could tell which aura techniques he could use but he'd never scrutinized it. He wondered why nobody else looked at their aura closely. Perhaps nobody ever thought of it. Or maybe they only had aura and not aura and essence. It would be boring to look at what was basically a shiny light he supposed.

Dexter frowned when he tried to manipulate the essence. It didn't move at all. He tried harder and it twitched. Internally he scowled. He could manipulate his aura fine, right? A brief exertion of his will confirmed this.

Having a brief idea Dexter put his essence out of his mind to pursue a side project. He looked at his aura as a whole. The shape of it. It looked like it was a large ball overall. Looking closely showed that it was comprised of many small pools of dense aura with thinner densities in between. His aura as a whole was shaped roughly in the shape of his body. All of the dense pools were connected by thick strands of essence coated in aura stuck to it. The network of pools were all located in his body. That practically confirmed his theory of aura being physically based as well as spiritually.

Looking even closer than that showed where his aura was being consumed to enhance his body. Dexter's breath caught as he saw his system around his enhancements. Thick networks of essence pumped aura through his body like blood vessels. His previous analogy of it being a blood vessel sort of shape was more accurate than he thought. His essence grew dense and concentrated at the points where he enhanced himself often.

There were vessels around his stomach, kidneys, heart, etc. but around his biceps, triceps, calves, and thighs were the densest clusters of essence vessels. There were also networks around his eyes and sensory organs like his nose and ears.

Having an idea Dexter didn't try to manipulate the vessels but the aura around them. He grew excited when the vessels moved smoothly. He didn't actually move it though. It was connected after all.

Not really thinking it through Dexter focused on one of the more useless clusters around his neck. He sharpened his aura like he would when making an aura blade. Joan had learned it and had taught Dexter the technique to sharpen his blades beyond what he could physically do with his blades. He moved the internal blade to his network and cleanly cut the network without resistance.

A sharp pain went through Dexter as he cut the network. He sucked in a breath and calmed himself. The network seemed to be twitching rapidly. Inside the network was essence but less solid than the vessels. If aura was a liquid and the essence vessels solid then this was a gas. It was wispy and without substance. To Dexter's interest the wispy essence was becoming solid but it was… consuming aura to become so.

Dexter quickly moved the network up his aura and body to his nose. He cut it in half and put the halves to the networks around his eyes. He agitated aura and hoped for the best as he seared the bleeding ends of the networks solid. The stems of the networks he pushed to the existing networks in which he cut a hole in with his internal aura blades. To his relief the vessel collected aura around itself and merged with his eye networks.

Opening his eyes Dexter winced at the new sights. Everything was far sharper than before. He could see farther and easier than ever before. It was disorienting. He winced and closed his eyes again.

Looking within himself once more Dexter smiled. It was obvious now what the essence was. It was the energy of grimm. His mother didn't have an aura after all and yet she could give any huntsman a run for their money ten times over. He, however, had essence and aura. This offered new opportunities and power for him that others would not have. He wondered if his mother had ever tried cultivating or stealing a soul. He would have to ask her.

One opportunity for new territory was what he had done with essence so far. It seemed to be a hard-wiring of an aura technique. Others had to maintain a constant discipline to maintain aura enhancement on themselves. They certainly couldn't do it while unconcious. Dexter, though, only had to focus for a while before he had it hardwired into his soul.

The only downside to this was that he couldn't hardwire aura techniques. With the techniques you had to collect aura, shape it, in some cases you had to agitate it or spin it or something of the sort, and then you expelled it. Sometimes you would expel it through a medium such as a sword or staff. Perhaps Dexter could hardwire techniques into his bone-made weapons but that would take a lot of work. Frankly it was just easier to learn the technique the normal way. Maybe he could hardwire a network that agitates aura? Then he could create a sustainable version of his shockwaves that he used sometimes. Rapid firing techniques of aura did sound useful.

For the moment though there was another matter. Looking at the essence that had bled out of the broken vessel Dexter say that the essence drew together and the outer layers hardened to the same solid layers as the vessels had. Dexter collected the essence debris and deposited it into one of the emptier pools of his aura. Problem solved. He already had a few ideas for what to do with the containers of essence.

With a smile on his face Dexter got ready to hack away at his networks of essence. There were plenty of networks that weren't being used to enhance anything. He did need a better reaction time. Processing speed would be nice too. And you could never have too much speed.

There was a smile on his face as Dexter sliced his network apart and rebuilt it as he pleased.

|-\\\/-|

It was late at night that Dexter came back to the house. His team would be worried if he didn't get back before it got too late. He hadn't actually gotten what he wanted to do done… actually he got distracted the minute he started meditating-but what he got was so much better!

Dexter had learned a lot about his network as he played -*AHEM!*- experimented with it. For one thing, his network didn't actually need to be connected. His vessels collected aura naturally at end points. They seemed to have a field of influence where they could transport aura. With a little control of aura Dexter could reverse the flow and the vessels would start flowing that way permanently unless he reversed the flow again.

It also seemed that aura was attracted to vessels because of the gaseous essence, which Dexter personally named distilled essence. The distilled essence travels his network and the aura close enough to it follows. It was rather like magnets attracting each other through a non-magnetic surface. Essence and aura stuck together binded with each other and cancelled out each other's magnetism. That was why the vessels didn't attract aura and didn't react to it. They were inert, in other words. Dexter didn't care to Try to break them back into aura and distilled essence yet. The components would likely bond again when he managed to separate them.

Aura was collected and expelled at end points of his network depending on the flow of it. Well, it had been. Aura had been collected at end points and transported through vessels to where the aura would be released and it would enhance Dexter. Now the vessels were fatter and with little vessels coming off of them that collected aura. There were a lot of little end points as opposed to a few big ones. They still expelled aura in the same way though. They simply enhanced Dexter more efficiently.

Dexter's biggest change was in where aura was used. With some experimenting Dexter had made a breakthrough.He had made a shield out of his aura! He had been trying to harden his skin using a network to expel aura onto his skin when he opened his eyes and saw aura aeeping through his skin at a high density. Striking at it showed that yes it was aura in shield form. However, Dexter was pissed. It turns out that aura shields were literally the most horribly inefficient and crappy things ever devised. They were literally sensing a violent object and throwing aura out of the body to make it go away! That was like a massive fart to push an object's velocity to a stalemate. It wasted so much aura expelling it out of the body that it made Dexter angry at just how stupid a defense mechanism it was. However, aura didn't always react in time but it normally reacted in time before strikes hit the skin. Thus only bruises were inflicted.

It was likely that aura shields were constructed subconsciously out of aura to prevent injury. People didn't want to be injured so the would call their aura to defend them. It also explained why people with aura could be hurt by sneak attacks. Their subconcious didn't detect a strike and so people wouldn't be able to reflexively make a shield. Aura shields were constructed based on reaction time, in other words, and so they couldn't defend against attacks people didn't know about. Mosquitos and such could also pierce the skin.

Theoretically Dexter could make a shield but he didn't subconsciously want to defend himself since he didn't have human defensive reflexes. He was a creature of grimm. His subconscious pointed him to attack and intimidate. Not defend himself. So he could train himself to create the useless aura shields. It was basically an easy aura technique that humans did on reflex. Screw training them though. Regeneration was far more efficient in terms of aura usage. It also allowed him to use aura more intensely in enhancing himself.

Needless to say that Dexter kept his vessels away from his skin to avoid constantly farting aura out of him. People would also stare if he had a shield always up.

Dexter's regeneration wasn't without it's faults though. An aura vessel had to be nearby to expel aura to heal the wound. That meant that some vessels had to be in his gut to heal it if he sustained a wound. They didn't have to be there but it was better that they were. It was a small sacrifice to make, though.

Most of Dexter's network was repositioned to be more useful for combat. Also, while he didn't have to connect his networks he found it was better that he did. That way any injuries would have aura channeled to the injuries from multiple sources. He would be healed faster.

There was still plenty to do with his network, though. Dexter was still bursting with ideas. He wanted to find out how he accumulated aura so he could hopefully use essence to stimulate it. Or perhaps he could optimize it. He also wanted to learn how to increase his supply of aura artificially. Could he have more biomass through transformation and increase his aura through a network? How does he get more essence for a network? Is his network proportional to his aura production? What can he use distilled essence for?

Well, Dexter actually had an idea for that last part. He was pretty sure he knew what to do with them but it was still a mystery until proven otherwise.

Dexter walked in with a smile on his face as he entered the apartment. He took off his cloak and hung it on a loose nail on the wall and walked into the living room. Joan was reading a book on warfare. Rella was writing a letter to her family on the same table. He could hear Laura in the kitchen.

"I'm back." Dexter said unnecessarily.

Joan looked up briefly before his eyes went back to the book. Then he stiffened up and did a double take on Dexter. He jumped in his seat and shouted "What the hell?!"

Rella shot onto her feet and grabbed on her feet and grabbed her staff, twirling it into a combat stance. Her eyes scanned the room and set onto Dexter. Then he locked eyes with her. Rella screamed and moved left. She tripped on the table and slammed her elbow onto the ground.

Dexter backed away and looked around for anything amiss. There was nothing around so they were looking at… him? "What?!" he said in alarm. "What did I do"

"It's what you look like!" Joan shouted. "Your eyes are bloodshot with black veins Dexter! What the hell?!"

Dexter paused. He had increased the amount of vessels in his eyes by half. He had also put more in his pupils and retinas with a few in his sclera. Before they had been entirely behind his eyes. But there had always been a vessel network there. Why had they become visible when they were put to the surface? Vessels weren't physical, Dexter knew. He had cut his arm open at a large vessel cluster and seen nothing. They were spiritual in nature. Only aura could interact with them.

"Can you go into detail?" Dexter asked Joan. He had grabbed his sword now and had his hand on the hilt.

"It looks like black blood vessels but they're… flickering. Like a candle does. They grow transparent and solid quickly. They sometimes hold for a second or three but then they flicker transparent and back again… Dexter what did you DO?!"

Dexter ignored Joan for a moment and thought. Perhaps… maybe it was a natural energy rather than some sort or nefarious grimm energy? In all honesty Dexter had no idea why his vessels were visibly much less why they were flickering. In that matter were they flickering in and out of existence? That… maybe? Dexter couldn't say he rightly knew. For now though…

Dexter closed his eyes and worked quickly. He shifted the network in his eyes back a few centimeters and adjusted it to work better. It wasn't as good as being on the surface but it was still better than before adjustment albeit only because of the volume of vessels in the network. This could be dealt with later.

Dexter opened his eyes and looked around the room. It was brighter than before now that his pupils weren't enhanced. He could feel them dilating. Ugh.

"Better now?" He asked.

Joan squinted at Dexter's eyes and slowly took his hand off his sword. "Yes, it's better but… Dexter could you use your semblance for me?" Dexter frowned at the request but made a bone throwing knife and tossed it to Joan. He caught it and inspected it before dropping it on the table.

"Well you're Dexter then. What the hell did you do to yourself to make… **that** happen?" Joan's frown turned from suspicion to worry. Rella had gotten up from the floor and sat down after Dexter made the knife.

"I noticed I could see better as a nevermoore so I tried to miniaturize their eyes and use them instead of my normal eyes. I also tried making my skin tougher among other things. The skin doesn't work but I got the muscles down and some improvements to reaction time, surprisingly."

Joan's eyes widened. "Then… you tried turning yourself part grimm?!"

"Only biologically." Dexter assured. "I transform physically to a grimm on a near daily basis, remember? Besides, I started small. I tried claws then fur then other partial transformations."

Joan nodded and Dexter was happy to notice that he was slightly less worried than before. "I suppose that makes sense. You couldn't do partial transformations before?" Dexter shook his head. He actually kind of had been using partial transformations. He had optimized his form when he first made the faunus form. Keeping his form somewhat similar to his grimm forms was also a clever trick to make the itch less unbearable as well as more efficient since grimm were typically more suited for combat and survival. His cat form had actually used beowolf fur at first. His faunus form likewise used his feline eyes, beowolf muscles that he would later turn to ursa muscles, and a part of his brain used feline reflexes. Most of it was human in nature, though. Or faunus if you want to be technical.

"Well at least you were somewhat careful about it." Dexter looked towards the new voice and saw Laura looking at him from the small kitchen. He wasn't used to the new eyesight yet. He needed to fine-tune it. Damnit. That would take some spars.

"I'm not replacing my eyes without making sure I'll be alright first. I even tried it with only one at first. I don't want to go blind you know."

"Oh, the burgers are ready by the way." Laura said. She walked back to the kitchen without fanfare. Dexter frowned. She seemed remarkably unconcerned about Dexter having black veins for a minute. She had been exposed to his eyes being weird for a while. Being red heterochromic being a taboo as is and the scary glare as Laura called it.

Come to think of it what was the scary glare? Dexter assumed it to be instincts since it was a sort of gut feeling but now that he knew about essence could it have been the origin of the power? Dexter smiled as he thought of experimenting more. It was surprisingly fun.

"So if you were trying out nevermorre eyes why did your eyes have black lines and weren't crimson like normal grimm eyes?"

It took Dexter only a moment to come up with a lie. "Likely for the same reason they're purple and red when I transform other times. In other words, I don't know. Perhaps aura?" Rella looks unsatisfied but concedes. Joan shrugs and marks his page in his book. Rella glances at her letter and walks over to the kitchen.

Dinner was quiet for the most part. Dexter and the others idly chat about their days. Joan had gotten a small result in his aura technique. It was an improvement to a rather basic technique that throws a 'bomb' of aura by making the blast radius smaller to be more suited for less combatants. The more basic form was rather weak. It was alright for putting people off balance but the second version was better for releasing concussive force in a small area. The third form shredded enemies with blades of aura. Dexter had gotten to the second form and could do the third if given some preparation time. The third form wasn't suited for battle because of how aura intensive it was but the second was quite useful for multiple weak enemies.

Rella had tried a few different forms for golems. She was trying to make some sort of mobile siege tank with archers on top of it. It went a little over Dexter's head. He had bitten his tongue at the time.

Laura complained at the stamina training and how her low stamina never hindered her before. Nobody bothered to mention how this wasn't a normal defensive battle or a quick hunt. She already knew, of course.

After dinner Dexter crawled into his hammock and almost smiled when Laura snuck in with him. He had almost missed her. She had also calmed down on her pursuit of him a little it seemed. It was probably due to her tiredness though.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter blinked a little as he woke up. Oh right. Laura was here. As stealthily as he could he walked to the kitchen and got a cup of water. Just because he didn't need water didn't mean his throat didn't get dry. Vacuo was terrible for just about everything it seemed. Dexter felt a wave of pity for his brethren who lived here. Vacuo was mostly populated by salamanders, which are basically a large lizard-like grimm despite the misleading name. Beowolves weren't suited to hunt in the climate. Deathstalkers and taijutsu were Vacuo's ursa. Not that Vale didn't have all three of them but Vacuo typically had more of the former two. Only rarely would ursa ever be seen in Vacuo.

To the annoyance of everyone in Vacuo there was also another type of grimm. Tombtraps. Large grimm that resembled a praying mantis, a spider, and a beetle. Eight legs with front mantis-like arms and a tough carapace. The worst thing was that they built traps underground and spat on sand with a sort of sticky spit to solidify it and make fake tops of sand that broke when you stepped onto them. They only appeared in numerous amounts in hives. Their spit was mildly acidic so they wore down weapons as well.

The grimm were pains in the ass for any caravan on the road. Rarer and stronger grimm often made nests in their abandoned lairs as well. Sometimes with the tombtrappers still inside. It wasn't like the two grimm were going to fight after all.

Dexter finished his fifth glass of water and sighed in contentment. Water in Vacuo was hard to acquire but oh so worth it. He was glad the pumps were free to use. Well, if you were able to get to one. They were often in use so lines formed. Hunters were allowed to skip the line luckily. So long as you didn't take your time on the pump and maybe help out if you were significantly stronger than the average civilian. Joan and Dexter were so they often helped out for a half hour a day. It was good exercise for Joan. Dexter didn't have anything better to do.

As he threw on his cloak Dexter gladly noticed that he could see properly again. It was good to know that he wouldn't have to train to get over his weakness whenever he trained his sight. He did, however, have to get used to his better muscles again. He'd ask Joan for a spar after he finished his experimenting. In a week maybe.

Dexter took his time getting to a clearing. He spent two hours adjusting to his new strength in his legs before finding a clearing. He also killed some beowolves that decided to try to kill him. Sometimes grimm just left because Dexter didn't really seem human. He did have a soul, though so they sometimes decided to try to kill him. It wasn't as though Dexter was hiding his soul either. Grimm could typically sense when he was using aura.

Dexter slowed as something clicked. He transformed to a beowolf and found another pack. He ran up to them and they didn't do a thing. They seemed off put that he was so fast and strong but they weren't aggressive. More curious and a little playful.

Then Dexter tried actively using his aura to enhance himself rather than using his network to passively channel aura. The beowolves immediately sensed it. Dexter shut it off. They appeared puzzled. He actively channeled again. The beowolves raised their hackles and stalked towards him. Dexter shut off the active channeling again. The wolves seemed very confused now. One of them put his jaws around Dexter's neck hesitantly. Like he wasn't sure whether he should do it or not. Dexter could easily heal from it so he used a scary glare on him. The beowolf quickly backed off.

At this point the beowolves seemed extremely confused and indecisive. Dexter decided he had had enough of this and walked off. None of the grimm followed. It was pretty clear to Dexter now that actively using aura alerted other grimm while passively using it through networks hid it from the aura sensing that all grimm had. This meant that Dexter could easily hide his aura if he coated his body with a thin network of vessels. Across his body. From there he could use aura freely. Perhaps not for aura techniques though. Those would alert grimm to his position although not to him himself. He would be effectively invisible. No grimm would notice if he snuck into the throng and transformed either. He could effectively turn invisible from the soul sensing of his brothers. The suppressing of his aura might also interfere with some semblances as well.

For today, though, Dexter refrained from testing out his "stealth form". He had a few other things to try before the big battle.

As he transformed back to a faunus Dexter got into a meditative position again and looked to his network. He played with optimising what he hadn't gotten around to yesterday and cut off any stumps of vessels to be turned into debris of essence.

All of the essence Dexter had could probably be used for something. His mistress was able to create grimm from her blood and from the breeding pools. Dexter wasn't certain but he was mildly sure that grimm were born from essence. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that grimm slowly absorbed essence over time. Elder grimm that were of the same size as normal grimm such as alpha beowolves were still stronger and faster than normal grimm. This was, Dexter thought, likely due to essence. The same concept could be said of hunters. Aura grew over time or training and it passively increased their strength and speed. It could also be used for other things. Aura made aura techniques. Essence made grimm of varying types. Perhaps essence could be used for other things like the glare but Dexter didn't know what else to do. He had done the glare by accident.

To test the glare and essence theory Dexter looked at his vessels and activated the glare while keeping his eyes closed. Dexter watched with interest as the vessels in his eyes and brain vibrated slightly. Not enough to move from their position but enough to be noticable.

It was slightly disappointing that nothing extremely noticeable changed. Dexter didn't feel any drain from glaring. He was reasonably sure he could keep it up as long as he felt to.

Slightly curious as to the vibration, though, Dexter tried vibrating the vessels in his torso and limbs. Nothing happened. Dexter frowned and tried vibrating them with his aura. That vibrated them but didn't change anything.

One last thing to try before getting to the meat of his study today. Dexter looked to his vessels before transforming to a beowolf. Dexter felt some surprise when he saw the vessels in his body vibrate as his body changed. They stopped when he became a beowolf. In addition, the vessels repositioned themselves to suit the new form as his body changed. It made sense as the soul changed to suit his form. His soul looked like a beowolf when he was in a beowolf form and it looked like a human when he was a human. For the vessels to change in a manner to retain their form wasn't terribly surprising. More convenient.

Now Dexter got to the part he had been waiting for. He was going to find out where his aura came from and see what he could do to enhance it. He might also try to absorb essence from other grimm if he had the time. Perhaps create a storage for aura from a shell of the solid essence than made up a part of a vessel. That was for later though.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter was hours in when he finally made a little progress. He had expelled roughly half of the aura in his body and looked closely around the aura while looking at components of his aura. Nothing had seemed even a little different than when it was full. He had made progress in that he now knew that he had no idea or way of finding out where aura came from. Great.

With a sigh Dexter looked up and saw it was getting late again. He'd have to go back again. There was still one more thing he could do though. He still had the debris from when he had reconfigured his networks in a part of his soul away from his networks.

Dexter gathered the debris by his fingertips and cut his fingertips open. He deliberately pulled back the networks from the wound to stop his healing factor from taking care of it. Dexter pushed with his aura to throw the debris out through the cut.

A smile formed on his face as the debris formed physically. A black sludge exited Dexter with some of his blood. The sludge shook a little before rapidly expanding. The surrounding debris merged with the expansion as they too expanded.

Dexter watched in fascination as the sludge slowed it's expansion and took form. Red eyes, white scales, and claws formed as the sludge warped. All of this had happened in a few seconds. Now standing in front of Dexter was a peculiar looking grimm. It had an angular serpentine head and a lengthy body plated with white scales. It had four clawed legs in a runner's shape like the legs of beowolves. It's tail, Dexter saw, was useful for balance.

The creature wasn't extremely large. It only came up to Dexter's waist. A close look revealed that the fangs were made to secrete venom.

Well that confirmed it. His mother made grimm from essence. For now though… Dexter quickly made a bone sabre and cleanly sliced the head of his grimm off. The grimm didn't even blink. The summoning of grimm was vaguely useful but the price was too high. Vessel debris could, with time, be used to create vessels… probably. Or perhaps his mother would help him find a more helpful use for it. Making that one small grimm took almost half of his debris available. There must be a more efficient way of using the essence in the debris. Either way the debris was for now finite and not to be wasted.

With a growl of annoyance Dexter tested his speed again as he ran back to his team's apartment. He would ask his mother when he returned to her. He had many questions that he hoped she would answer. He should make a list.

 **Omake: That's not how pets work Laura!**

"Laura… what?" Mancer couldn't even finish his question but the meaning was clear enough. After all, she was standing in front of the base with a wagon she formed out of ice (Layered with blankets) with a mass of black fur swaddled in the blankets.

"Is that… huh?" Dexter spluttered. That was a beowolf. He could recognize the smell of his brethren anywhere. But this one is rather small for a beowolf. A young one. Dexter pitied it for catching Laura's interest.

"I adopted it. It's our pet now." Laura said simply. "I had no idea tiny grimm were so cute but… the more you know. I didn't have the heart to kill it."

Dexter was kind of conflicted. On one hand that poor beowolf was going to be a pet. On the other he was still alive. On the theoretical third hand it was Laura that was the pet owner. Knowing her she'd feed it despite not needing food or shave it because it looked hot…

"I… I will help." Dexter said hesitantly. He didn't want to but if it was to spare his brethren such a horrible fate as to be a pet - much less Laura's pet - he would take the hit. He had learned how to kill quickly and cleanly in order to spare his family suffering, after all. Although he had relaxed somewhat on his tolerance in the past few years. This wouldn't be much different in principle.

Three days later…

"Open your mouth! Here comes the airplane! Brbrbrbrbr-" Dexter was wrong. Oh so wrong. Why had he volunteered for this? The grimm, which Laura named Onyx, had been thrilled to be a pet. He loved the airplanes. He thrived under Laura's suffocating and insufferably sweet attentions.

In a shocking twist Dexter was the one suffering. Not Onyx. Dexter didn't need sleep but he still felt mental stress. This was definitely stressful. Beyond stressful.

"Oh honey poo!" Laura chirped with cheerfulness that made his stomach churn uncomfortably. "Yes… HONEY POO?!" Dexter had to force the words to come out so hard that his voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Laura had forced him to talk that way under threat of fake tears. He realized his murderous intent had caused his glare to activate reflexively. Joan, who was trying to having a snack at the table, choked in fear on his tea and coughed harshly at the aura of murder from the glare and the voice from hell. Rella was frozen on the couch completely tensed with her hairs on end and eyes wide. Mancer had long since jumped ship and bummed it in the forest outside filled with murderous grimm. The other two were jealous of him. Laura didn't even notice Dexter's malice. Nor did Onyx. He actually barked happily.

"Could you please mash some apples and pears together for Onyx? He just keeps eating. It seems you didn't make enough last time." She said this all with a million dollar smile of pure happiness on her face. Even Dexter's mother would want to treasure humanity if she saw that smile. Dexter felt indescribable rage.

"OF COURSE DEAR!" Dexter growled out wrathfully. Rella passed out and curled up into the fetal position. Joan dropped his tea and cried in fear.

As Dexter was walking to the kitchen he pretended to trip and fell forward. With a clenched fist he slammed his fist into the wall as hard as he could. His knuckles dislocated with a crack. "WHOOPS. MY FOOT SLIPPED." Dexter snarled. Rella whimpered in her fitful sleep.

As Dexter got to the kitchen he grabbed a few pears, apples, peaches, and wild berries. Grimm didn't need to eat but he really didn't have a choice.

Dexter could have grabbed a kitchen knife and sliced like a normal person but instead he formed a cleaver of bone. It was serrated and slightly curved. It looked like the weapon of a serial killer in a horror movie. Dexter savagely hacked at the fruit and ignored the juices that splattered as a result. In a minute he had some roughly chopped mash of fruits and berries. Dexter hadn't bothered to sort out seeds or stems of the apple or pears. The peach pit had been hacked to bits and shattered somewhere along his mauling of the fruits.

Dexter scraped the fruit mash into a wooden bowl. His cleaver for a serial killer scraped on the wood. If a few wood shavings from the table made it into Onyx's bowl could he really be blamed? No… no he couldn't.

Dexter stalked back with a fury in his step to Onyx and Laura. Laura was trying to teach Onyx patty cakes but he wasn't doing well. Despite this he was trying as best he could and smiling. As he failed again Laura laughed and Onyx barked and licked Laura's hand. She giggled at the ticklish feeling.

"HERE YOU GO… SMOOCHUMS.." Dexter grated. Joan erupted into a fresh round of tears and whimpering. Rella was still out cold in fear. Screw them. Dexter was suffering too. Worse than them, even. How horrible that Laura had this dark side to her. It was despicable. No… it was abhorrent.

Laura turned to him and smiled angelically. "Thank you, dear. Look! He's even smiling at you!" Onyx was looking at Dexter with a smile on his maw as he panted. Dexter had never wanted to murder anything more. His glare did nothing to intimidate Onyx. Dexter realized he had never put down his butcher knife. He smiled menacingly as his hand twitched as if eager for Onyx's death. Even forcing his hand down Dexter's hand twitched violently as he tried not to kill the little prick.

A moment passed as Laura admired Onyx. Suddenly, "IT MUST BE DONE!" a cry pierced the scene. A blur of red rushed Onyx and before anyone could react Onyx slumped with a kitchen knife stabbed through his head. Dexter looked at Onyx's corpse in shock before a small laugh bubbled up. A low and, to any viewer but Laura, terrifying laugh bubbled up. It escalated to full blown demonic cackling a few seconds later. Dexter was wracked by his glee at Onyx's demise.

Mancer solemnly removed the knife from Onyx's skull and bowed his head. It took a moment of Dexter's cackling settling down and Mancer snapping his eyes away from Onyx for the voice to be understood.

Laura was quietly crying. Tears fell from her eyes and soft sobs came from her mouth as she sent a heartbroken look to Onyx's corpse. The bright and pure happy smile there only a minute ago was completely gone. Dexter frowned as he looked back to the body.

A few seconds went by before a verdict was passed. "Joan and Rella are taking care of the next one with Laura." Dexter stated. Mancer nodded.

Joan was screwed but he wasn't in a state to argue at the moment. Rella was still out cold. Maybe they could get a normal puppy this time. Where could you get a puppy in wartime anyways?

Mancer turned around and frowned. "Joan will you stop sobbing? And get off the floor, Rella. We're going to go find a puppy for Laura. You two will be taking care of it."


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: I just want to clarify that conflict is ALLOWED at the end of the deadline. War isn't going to be armies battling in a snap of your fingers or meet ing in an agreed place like in real-world medieval times (they had an agreed battle location and marched their armies to the place to duke it out). It's going to be slow coming and there's going to be a lot of action before then. Even then, while conflict is allowed it won't be constant skirmishes or anything. Even in the eastern islands I interpret it as more of skirmishes over towns and settlements while armies stock up to really throw down. The kingdoms had been preparing for years but they hadn't expected a war so soon. Townspeople started it. The governments were unprepared. That's why the four years have been, while not peaceful, not filled with large scale battles so far. Besides, this is sort of a technologically and culturally skewed super late medieval era in remnant.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 21**

 **The calm**

Dexter had been incredibly irritable for the last week before the conflict began. He had noticed it, his teammates had noticed it, and the citizens that moved out of his way timidly had certainly noticed it.

In the two -nearing three- weeks since his discovery of essence Dexter had made very little progress. He had no way of knowing how to create more essence or how he regenerated aura or anything like that. He needed answers but the only way of getting them was asking his mother. Given time maybe he could make some sort of breakthrough but for now his mother was the only way of knowing the further intricacies of aura.

Right now there was the slightly more pressing matter of reporting in to be done. It was somewhat hard to believe there was a battle set to take place in ten day's time. After all...

"This place is a dump." Dexter deadpanned. It was true. The joint high command of Vale and Vacuo consisted of a series of tents with messengers running between them. Signs were posted between the tents with arrows pointed to various tents labeled with logistics, military personnel, command, and a few other military departments. It was all rather chaotic with some men yelling at each other and messengers scurrying underfoot.

"Umm… I think it was personnel with a subsection to huntsmen. Then I show my badge of rank and… stuff." Laura said confusedly. Joan looked around trying to puzzle out where to go. Rella seemed to just throw the towel in the moment she saw the disorganization.

Laura grabbed Dexter and Joan's hands and walked with them to the personnel tent. Once inside there was another signpost pointing to infantry, support, ranged personnel, and finally at the bottom, huntsmen conscripts.

"I suppose conscripts is a good place to start." Laura walked down the path of the sign and followed the signs. A few more posts appeared with the number of messengers slowly decreasing. Eventually there was an office sort of tent series with a man sitting at a desk sorting some papers in drawers behind him.

"Excuse me," Laura called. The man turned around and stared at them. "I'm commander Laura Frost. I'm here with my team under orders of king Grant to be available for the upcoming engagements."

The man raised an eyebrow and held his hand out. "Do you have a missive?" Laura nodded and pulled out a letter from the inside of her cloak. The man carefully opened the letter and scanned the first page. His eyes widened a little but he schooled himself back to the neutral face he had before. "I see… Well you're classified under special orders so I trust you already know what you have to do. Will you be taking your team with you while you fulfill said orders?"

"I will be taking Dexter Frost and Joan Arc with me. Rella Goodwitch is assigned to support huntresses in paragraph eight. Third paragraph of the second page." The man glanced at Dexter and Laura and frowned before looking again at the missive. Dexter stared at Laura with stoic eyes. Why had she put her last name there? He supposed that he didn't actually have a last name but she could have asked. What was she thinking?

"I'll mark you down as present. No need to turn up for final call since you'll be operating independently. Miss Goodwitch…" The man grabbed a slip of paper and scribbled down something on it before handing it to her. She accepted it and nodded before walking off. "I'll see you all at the apartment." She called.

"Despite you and your team operating independently we need immediate information in case of reassignment. Especially considering we don't actually have any documents on your brother-"

"Husband." Laura interrupted. Joan and Dexter both frowned at her but said nothing. She ignored them anyways. The man stared holes in Laura and Dexter. Dexter stared back and he backed off. Sure Dexter didn't know what Laura was playing at but outright saying that he wasn't a frost would just be plain bad not just for Laura but he would have to explain himself and where he's from too.

"Well in that case your husband still needs to fill out a few forms so we know about his capabilities. Semblance, skills, aura levels, combat rank, and the such. Do you or Sir Arc need to update your profiles?"

"I do." Joan said stiffly. The man nodded and handed a few papers to him.

"Just use the staff rooms. They're over there. Take the first right and it'll be on your left a few tents down." The man pointed to an exit on his left and Joan nodded and left.

The man reached to hand some papers to Dexter but laura intercepted them before him and walked after Joan. Dexter growled a little before walking after her. When he caught up to her he hissed "The hell was that?!"

"I don't know your last name so I used mine. Also, since you're not very educated on military intricacies like rank you'll probably need some help. I'm just helping out." Dexter didn't buy that for a second. Something was up.

"Why are you being so possessive?" Laura tensed and glanced to Dexter.

"I'll tell you after the battle. Can you contain your curiosity until then? It's… somewhat complicated. Dexter looked searchingly at Laura… He trusted her. He could trust her with this. He nodded.

"I expect an answer to all of that soon." Laura smiled in relief and nodded back.

The two soon turned into a sort of common room. A quartet of workers, presumably on break, were playing dungeons and dragons on a table over in a corner. Another was reading a book. Joan was filling out his forms on the coffee table in a ring of sofas.

Laura and Dexter sat down opposite of Joan and set the forms down. Dexter rushed through the basic information. Age? Twenty… wait, what was his age? There was the twenty in the grimmlands, the one with Laura, and three with his team so… Twenty four? He put that down. Sexuality? Uhm… Dexter paused at that one. Laura actually froze at that one with some odd expression on her face somewhere between disbelief, confusion, and horror. Dexter put down straight and she sighed in relief. Joke's on her. He actually didn't know what those terms meant for humans. He just filled in the bubble Joan did.

Lineage? A milennia old demon goddess who made him from her pet dog when she fed it a bad soul… No. Dexter marked his mother as a hermit and the rest of his family as deceased.

Wealth? None, which was totally a lie but no way was any kingdom getting his stash of… you know it actually was underground and gold and gems qualified as treasure, right? You know what let's not think about that.

Criminal record? Dexter paused and had a flashback. Stealing every racist's money in cities, breaking into a huntsman academy and evading the authorities soon after, a few counts of property damage (he hadn't meant to blow up that dust! He had never used it before so he didn't know!)... Laura took the pencil from him and wrote down none for him. Dexter looked to her. Oh right. She had done even more crimes than he had. Yeah, he was a model citizen compared to her. How many cliffsides had she defaced? Too many. And then there was the time that she kidnapped that mayor of that one time and switched him with another mayor because of a misunderstanding with a bandit clan. And the other time she purposefully let grimm into a town to trap them and make them easier to kill. Sure everybody had evacuated but that was because Laura tricked him into walking outside in his beowolf form… okay so Laura was basically a demon if you look at it altogether but she wasn't that bad… moving on then.

After filling out the easier stuff it was on to the fun part. Combat skills. Dexter moved to circle B rank but Laura stopped him. "Actually you're more like a high A rank. Calling you an S would be a stretch since you can't always go all out though."

The workers looked to Dexter in surprise at Laura's assessment. Joan didn't look particularly caught off guard.

"So A rank then?" Laura nodded. Now combat skills. Semblance? Transformation. Under description Dexter noted his ability to physically change to a grimm, gave a few of his forms, and his ability to create weapons like a bow, daggers, throwing knives, spears, and swords from bone.

Under abilities and techniques Dexter marked his sword as expert level and remarked that he could use generally any weapon pretty well. He added his experience in using dirty tricks but refused to specify, naturally.

With that done there was just one more thing to do… "Laura? What are these?" Laura stopped looking over Joan's papers and looked to Dexter's.

"Those are attribute ranks. Normally people do a test for this stuff but with my vouch you skip the tests and go straight to writing results with my supervision. There's speed, strength, dexterity, aura, endurance, and perception. There used to be intelligence but it was removed a decade or two ago. I think Mantle still uses that attribute though. They go by letter grade with a, let's say C+ right below a B- and then it would be B and then B+ and so on. After S, which is above A, you get SS and SSS. The king actually has an S in agility but he makes up for it with a SSS in aura. Beyond that you would theoretically put down an X. There have been a few people that have a semblance that makes them tireless or gives them incredibly enhanced senses so we can put down an X there. Really X just means too high to classify or there's a serious technicality from a semblance."

Dexter frowned at the attributes list. "So what are mine then?" Laura rattled them off without pause.

"Strength: B, perception: C+ but you can change that if you change forms… um, endurance: S+, agility: A-, aura: A-." Dexter filled in the attributes and smiled. He was pretty strong, huh? He wasn't specialized at all but there weren't many situations where he wasn't prepared it seemed. His endurance, though… It would probably be unclassifiable since he didn't need sleep or rest. Perhaps an X… That actually made classifying grimm skewed since aura would be lower than F and Endurance above SS. The way to measure grimm could only take into account strength, perception, and agility. Perhaps armor and size would replace aura and endurance. All grimm had no techniques though. They were beasts so they fought as such. An interesting measurement.

"You done?" Laura asked. Dexter handed the paper over and Laura scanned it. She frowned. "It says here that there's no emergency contacts. There's also no location for your mother." Dexter nodded.

"My mother doesn't really… she doesn't like to be bothered." Laura chewed on her lip.

"There's no way to get in contact with her?" Dexter nodded. She sighed.

"Well alright. Joan, do you mind being his primary emergency contact?"

"I'm fine with that. If it's an emergency I don't mind helping."

"Good. I'll be his secondary." Dexter looked to the two amusedly. He didn't even get a say? Well he didn't much care anyways. There wasn't much he couldn't get himself out of.

The trio returned to the man at the desk and turned the forms in. The man put them in a drawer and waved them away. The three walked back to the apartment in silence.

|-\\\/-|

"So…" Joan murmured. "It's tomorrow, huh? That we finally get to actual fighting." Nobody replied. It wasn't like anybody actually had to. They had been counting down the days. For the last few days the team had been coming to terms with it. Training had been put on hold since nobody could focus properly.

"So what's it going to be like?" Rella asked.

"I've imagined it as we sit there and wait for them to come or we come first. One side puts up a shield wall and braces as the other side comes closer." Laura said quietly.

"I thought of it as two armies cavalry going in first. Bodies fall. Then the infantry goes in." Joan said.

"Nobody will be using cavalry this time." Dexter pointed out. "Huntsmen and huntresses will be there. I wouldn't be surprised if they have some sort of animal control semblance. The only competitors will be soldiers and the huntresses and huntsmen. Huntsmen hounds will be held back to track down stragglers most likely."

"And what do you think will happen?" Laura asked. Dexter looked thoughtful for a moment.

"The armies meet. They're ordered forward so of course they start to meet in the center. But here's the thing. Huntsmen and huntresses are allowed to operate independently. Like us. Somebody is going to pull some sort of dirty trick. Like Laura's semblance. Five people like her throwing wide area attacks to whittle down infantry would be near catastrophic without a countermeasure. Huntsmen and huntresses might have trapped the battlefield beforehand as well. There's also the matter of constructs like what Rella has. I once met a girl who could personify nightmares. At least, that's what she thought they were. Creatures like those nightmares and golems will walk the battlefield."

Everyone looked grim as Dexter finished. "Chaos." Rella whispered softly.

"Battle is a measurement of power. Nobody said anything about tactics. When it comes to huntsmen and huntresses you can only operate small group tactics. Hunters are too diverse and unique to operate uniformly. That's why we're given free reign. Nobody can regulate us as a whole unit." Joan stated. "Luckily we're not quite to that point yet… but obviously this is going to be… new."

Laura got up out of her seat and walked to the kitchen. She knelt down and reached into a cupboard. When she got back up she had four wine bottles in her hands. She walked back to the table and passed them out. Dexter had what could almost be called a smile when he saw that they were chilled by her semblance. She walked over again and retrieved glasses for everybody.

Dexter made a corkscrew out of bone for everyone. They all screwed them in and small smiles were passed around. "On three." Rella said. "One… Two… Three!" The corks all came out with soft pops. Everyone carelessly threw the corks and corkscrews aside. The bottles would be empty by morning.

The wine was quickly poured into the glasses. The glasses clinked as they met in the center. "Cheers!" the four said in dissonance. Dexter savored the taste. A smooth and fruity taste complimented a strong and pleasant smell. Dexter liked it. He hadn't actually tried wine but he liked it more than the whiskey or beer he often found in taverns with Laura.

"I actually don't much like wine." Laura admitted. "Whiskey is more my type. I thought of a few other drinks but alcohol is expensive with the soldiers taking all of it. They pay for it of course but good alcohol is becoming a rarity."

"Why didn't you just steal some?" Dexter asked. "I know you could have." Laura shrugged.

"Vacuo is poor. Wine is expensive normally. This here is two weeks worth of earnings." Dexter glanced at the glass and smiled as he sipped it.

"I actually stole alcohol once." Joan spoke up with a fond smile. "I broke into my family's wine cellar and drank maybe four bottles until I was too drunk to stand. It wasn't until later that I found out that the wine was so young that it was practically grape juice."

"I did the same." Rella said with a nod and a smile. "But I didn't drink fruit juice. It was some vintage wine. My father had had the barrel fermenting for quite a while. He had planned to drink it on his anniversary. I actually spilled it on the floor when I was on my fifth glass. My father was furious but I apparently said something funny and he got over it. I still don't know what I said. I was too tipsy to remember."

A round of laughs went through the group. "Is stealing your paren't wine just a rich kid thing?" Laura asked. "I mean, I stole from my family's wine cabinet but I was caught before half a bottle went down."

"It's more like a tradition all the cool rich kids do." Rella explained. "The cool kids go 'I stole like three bottles and drank them with my sister.' and all the normal kids would ooh and wow at the kid. Then everybody else wants to try it. It's like a right of passage for some."

"I just wanted to see what being drunk was like." Laura admitted. "Now I find it silly but back then it was a whole mysterious spiritual experience. Like losing your virginity sort of."

"Ah yeah. Kids did brag about that." Joan recalled. "Kate Taylor mostly. The pretty girl in classes. I'm pretty sure she slept with two guys at once a few times in Vale's royal hunter school."

"That sounds like Matthew Nemesis in my class. Popular kid who sleeps with all the others?"

"Yeah. That kid."

"Why are you rich kids so bad?" Laura asked curiously. Dexter started on his second glass of wine. "I never had a class whore and nobody talked about breaking into wine cellars or cabinets when I was in school."

"Maybe it's a desire to act out?" Joan guessed. "I was actually a pretty good kid most of the time. It was kind of hard to be bad when all that was expected of me was to know how to use a sword."

"I had to keep grades up, make friends, do chores, and half the time I needed to cater to my grandmother and grandfather! Why couldn't I be rich?!"

"Oh yeah? I had to know how to sew. Take that!" Rella teased.

"Oh my," Laura drawled sarcastically. "I NEVER did that. I just had to know how to garden, clean, cook, and… oh wait, I did sew. All the time." Another round of chuckles went around.

"Dexter what did you do as a kid?" Joan asked. Dexter finished his sip and set down the glass.

"I didn't have what most would call a normal childhood. I was eight years old when my mother unlocked my aura. She then kicked me out of the house and I survived on my own." At this point Rella's eyes were wide. Joan had choked on his wine and Laura's mouth was open in shock. Dexter was trying to lie as little as possible. He had actually been nearing seven months old when his aura was given. He also hadn't really survived as learned to fight.

"I learned how to fight on my own. Food and water wasn't a really big issue. I was actually trapped in a canyon for a time before getting out." Actually it had been a continent full of deadly grimm and twenty years but same difference. "I began to get a grasp on my semblance abilities around then. Transforming to make myself stronger. I didn't figure out bone weapons for a while. Until I met Laura for the first time." Laura laughed then.

"I never actually told you how we met did I?" Laura said. "Sorry, Dexter. Is there anything else?" Dexter shrugged.

"I eventually escaped the canyon and met a few different kinds of people. I got a handle on social skills pretty quick and wandered around a while. Being a nevermoore makes travel easy. Then I wandered into the town Laura was in and… well I'll let you tell that part."

"Right. So I woke up one day and went into a town. For the life of me I can't remember the name of it. It was a trade hotspot. I was walking down the street and saw a cat laying on a fat man's lap. It was the most peaceful scene I had ever seen. The pastries the man was selling weren't even being stolen despite the man being asleep. Now, nothing actually happened there. But then when I went to sleep I had a man coming after me. An assassin."

A small gasp came from Rella and an interested hum from Joan. Dexter frowned as he remembered that. No pastries had ever compared since he had those.

"I dealt with the guy pretty easily. But before I went to sleep I saw these eyes. A spooky grimm eye and an indigo one. I fell asleep before I did anything. I was tired, had a budding hangover, and had been briefly woken up. I wasn't exactly lucid. I was kind of paranoid the next day. I kept an eye over my shoulder as I got rid of the assassin's body and counter-stalked Dexter."

Dexter took over for a moment. "For the entire day I was just screwing around. I got conned, met a weapons guy who offered some ideas for weapons, and tried making my bone weapons on my own."

Rella and Joan seemed to be happy to sit back and enjoy their drink. Laura took this as a cue to continue talking.

"I slept the night through again as a test to see if Dexter would hurt me. He didn't but obviously I still wanted answers. I did normal things for the whole day. I did my laundry, got new polish for my rapier, and generally did chores. Then that night I laid in wait on the rooftop I saw Dexter go to before. He was a tiny cat you would see as a pet at the time so I just snuck up on him and snatched him up. I gloated a little but he surprised me. He, get this, punched me in the face with his fluffy kitty paws! He just moved around my cheeks a lot and smooshed up my face. It was hard to keep up a deadpan when it was utterly adorable."

Joan laughed at the description and Rella smirked at Dexter as she took a sip.

"I was trying to escape!" He protested. Laura grinned.

"After harmlessly attacking me he decided to transform to his sort of leopard/panther form. He grew too heavy to carry and I was left with a dislocated nose while he ran away. He ran away but he jumped through the window to the room I was in. Unfortunately for him I had trapped the hell out of my room so he set them all off at the same time. He utterly wrecked the room and ran away. I didn't want to be questioned so I packed my bags in record time and got out of dodge."

"I met up with her a little after and we got together." Dexter finished. Laura blushed but shook it off. Dexter winced internally as he got how his words could be misinterpreted. A glance at the others showed Joan to be red faced from the alcohol. He was drinking slowly now. Rella was alright at a glance. She could hold her drink well though.

By now most of the wine was gone. Laura noticed this and walked back to the kitchen with a slight stumble. She came back with a small assortment of alcohol. Dexter eyed a few types before getting a gin. It was tasty. Definitely his favorite kind of alcohol though bourbon was alright and wine was quite nice now that he tried it.

"Is there anything else to do than drinking and talking? It's alright but I doubt this is all you had." Dexter questioned Laura. She smirked.

"Yup! We're going to watch a play."

Dexter wondered if there was some sort of non-literal interpretation he was missing but then again… this was Laura, who thought flying a nevermoore in a storm while tossing lightning bolts around was a fantastic idea. Who adopted a beowolf and made it into a guard dog. Who rode ice skating goliaths on a large pond she personally froze over. She might be talking literally. He really hoped she was. Just seeing a play would be nice for everyone. Especially since everyone but Dexter was having a pleasant buzz. Except Joan but he was a lightweight. It's his own fault.

|-\\\/-|

"That was horrible." Dexter groaned in disgust.

"I- *sniff*- I-I just wanted Koko to be happy! Why did she have to- to- to d- die!" Rella cried into Laura's chest with hiccuping sobs. Joan seemed apathetic to the whole thing.

"I think they could have done a better job with the other characters. Really only Koko and Banri were important. Besides, the ending was exactly as expected. Completely predictable."

Laura shrugged. "I zoned out around the last quarter. I'm more curious how they can legally play this. Doesn't it make people sad and attract the grimm?" Joan nodded.

"It's supposed to be a mark of how we freely display art and emotions rather than bind them like Mistral and Mantle. By showing this people get less paranoid about the kingdoms shutting off sad films to reduce grimm attacks." Laura made an "Ohhh." of understanding and kept walking.

"So… sleep?" Dexter asked. Joan nodded. Rella tried to nod between her crying. She got her point across. Laura yawned loudly.

"Well… Actually I've got an idea for you Joan. I zoned out and realized something. Well you see…" Joan listened to Dexter's plans before grinning devilishly.

"Yes. Yes Dexter. This may be the best idea you've ever had." Dexter laughed lowly. Tomorrow was officially the start of the conflict and skirmishes were expected between hunters. Hunters weren't actually allowed to publicly kill the enemy yet though they were allowed to kill hunters (As if they could). For the armies it was to see who struck first but… If Dexter's plan worked it would be a fun day and a VERY productive one. It wouldn't exactly be fun for Mistral or Mantle but at the very least he would make it easier on Vale's side for a little while. Though to call him on Vale's side would be a bit of a misinterpretation. For the country he didn't hold any loyalty whatsoever.

"I'll find a red contact lens. There's bound to be one around the camp somewhere." Laura said with a sly grin on her face. Dexter's face mirrored hers.

 **Omake: Ice skating with goliaths**

"Laura there are too many!" Mancer cried. The grimm howled at the team of five from the edges of the pond. They were completely surrounded on their little ice floe in the pond.

"... I have a plan. Dexter, sneak off and blend in with the pack. Joan, amplify Mancer's aura. Mancer, flare your aura with Joan's semblance boosting it for a moment. Make it a big flare." Mancer looked wary of the orders. A flare of aura like that would attract grimm for miles. But Laura knew what she was doing.

"Rella, make constructs with range and pick off some grimm or cripple them. Keep grimm off of Mancer. Now, start."

Dexter became a smallish taijitu with some fins he added on himself and leapt into the water. He squirmed a little and wriggled through the water like an eel. Above him Laura was standing still as power grew dense around her. She pushed out to the water and began making a thick sheet of ice over the top of the water. She was careful not to trap Dexter in ice. Mancer ran away from the group and sent a thumbs up to Joan. Joan flicked the switch on his semblance and felt the twinge that set Mancer's aura aflame.

A brilliant flash of light briefly blinded every grimm in the area. They howled in a frenzy at the large amounts of aura in one person. Joan's semblance lowered and Mancer could tell he had lost a fifth of his aura in that one flare.

A hail of arrows fell onto the grimm from some constructs Rella had made from ice, wood, and stone. Some grimm fell but most were annoyed and lightly injured. Only one or two died from lucky shots. They growled but none of them were distracted as they began swimming after Mancer.

Dexter reached the shore and transformed to a beowolf alpha. He slipped into the distracted horde of grimm and ran after Mancer with them. He made sure to slow down those that got too fast to be a threat to him.

The lake finally froze over completely and Laura sighed in relief. It was far easier to keep ice cold than make more of it. She could keep this up for a half hour if she had so. Beyond that she would feel the backlash of splitting headaches and lose concentration.

Everything seemed to grow quieter as a pounding of footsteps grew close. Everyone, be they man or grimm, looked to the noise. A huge form came out of the trees. Four tusks the size of the largest spears emerged and a dark hide painted with slashes of white scars came marching from the sparse forest. Seven other smaller goliaths followed shortly after.

Everybody watched as the alpha goliath tested the ice. It put weight on it and the ice creaked slightly but did not break. It slowly trodded onto the ice and found that the ice would hold. Laura had made the sheets extra thick and hard to support their weight. She had made a few small pillars of ice underwater to help support the weight on the sheet as well.

As the others looked to Laura for directions she grinned ferally. "Now jump onto them! From the trees opposite their side! Except Mancer!"

Mancer and Joan paused for a moment in shock before Joan ran to the trees with a shout of "sorry!" while running to the trees. Joan took the liberty of inflaming his aura slightly to get to the trees faster. Dexter sprinted after them with a blast of aura from his hind legs to give him momentum on the ice. It also blew the other grimm back from pursuing the squad.

As the squad reached the trees they scaled the trunks hastily. Dexter also shifted back to a faunus form. The goliaths seemed to be getting ready to charge the tree line to stop whatever the hunters were doing. Little did they know this was exactly what Laura wanted.

As the goliaths' charge neared the tree line Laura, Dexter, and Joan leapt onto their backs. The goliaths they jumped onto were so surprised that they stopped their charge abruptly.

"Joan! Supercharge Mancer's aura! Mancer! Flare it!" Joan used his semblance again and Mancer lost another fifth of his aura. Even the goliaths, while smarter than normal grimm, felt a rage set in on their minds at the quantity of the aura. Even the alpha succumbed to the urge to pursue the aura. They initiated another charge against Mancer.

The goliaths rapidly gained on Mancer. However, the assortment of grimm that had been chasing Mancer since the lake got frozen were in the way. The goliaths didn't even notice as they trampled the grimm underfoot. As the stampede overtook the horde the group had been reduced to a fourth of it's former size.

"Okay that was smart." Joan shouted from his goliath. "But what now?" Laura cackled. Under Mancer a pillar of ice rose under him. He caught on quick and hopped onto a goliath.

"Now… let's have fun! Flare your auras to direct goliaths to you. When yours wears down hop to another one!"

On the sidelines Rella, forgotten, gaped at the pure absurdity as she watched goliaths slide around the ice rink Laura had created. Ten minutes later the alpha goliath accidentally stepped on a fallen compatriots head and the first goliath died. Ten minutes later two more accidents had happened. Ten more minutes and only the alpha and one somewhat lucky goliath still lived. It was an absurd sport somewhat like bowling, jousting, and ice skating rolled together mixed with a rave from the lights of the auras being flared that bounced off the ice.

"That's enough! From above the goliath on the count of three attack the head as much as you can on the count of three. Rella! Get some golems patrolling the perimeter while we rest up! We used a lot of aura. Now… One. Two. Three!"

On the third count Joan coated his blade in aura and sliced and stabbed furiously into the alpha goliath under him. Dexter turned to a beowolf and with a large amount of aura funneling into his claws he did what could only be called digging into the skull of the smaller goliath. Laura and Mancer hung back in case the others were thrown off or they had to stop for some reason.

Within half a minute the goliaths were dead and gone. "That was the most absurd and idiotic thing I have ever seen." Rella said in disbelief. "I'll remember this for a long time."

"That was definitely not the orthodox way of dealing with goliaths." Joan observed with a wide smile on his face. "Certainly far more fun and satisfying than luring them into traps.

"I kind of want to figure out how to transform into a goliath now." Dexter muttered. Sure he could fly but… that was REALLY fun.

"Maybe we can do it again." Laura mused. Everyone wondered if her crazy was infecting them because that actually almost sounded like a good idea for a moment. Just one. Then they came back to the smallest bit of rationality adn decided against it.

With an alarming cracking noise everyone's attention turned to the goliaths . Under them were cracks on the ice. The alpha was the first to go. The instability from the big hole in the ice made a second corpse fall through then. And then a third. Things seemed calm for a moment then.

"Let's… let's not do that again. For our safety." Rella said shakily.

"I still say we should." Laura muttered. Dexter actually found himself agreeing somewhat. He couldn't die of hypothermia so… but Rella would scold him. Yeah let's not do that again.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: IS 2:20 AM ON TIME?! Oh… and you all are going to love this. I know getting a grasp on the new character can feel hard but I try to explain it a few times. The first impression is sort of a 'let loose' sort of thing. It's how she is sometimes but not always. Like how you sometimes smile and talk and be super social while most of the time you might be more introverted. I don't know what you all act as but I suppose you all can figure this all out.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 22**

 **The Stormcaller**

Dexter found most rules unnecessarily complicated. That one sentence explained a lot about him. One of his most disliked sets of rules was the set around warfare. Warfare was a time when whole civilisations could pull out the stops and let loose on each other. Sure, massacring civilians is a no-no but it felt to him that there was a tiered hierarchy of the military.

First were normal soldiers. Aura and some skill with the blade but they didn't actually use their aura like a good hunter would. Second were the military clans. Clans that trained officers and elite soldiers trained in aura somewhat. They might get one or two aura techniques but in all honesty they weren't great fighters in the whole scale. Third would be the hunter clans. There were plenty of clans throughout the kingdoms. The Lie clan, the Arc clan, the Winchester clan and their vassals the Bronzewings and the Larks, the Goodwitch clan, and many more. There were roughly two hundred fifty but it fluctuates with some clans falling in or out of nobility. They were real hunters. The kind you hired to deal with grimm and the kind that are restricted by the universal rules of warfare.

Then there was the fourth in the pyramid. The monsters. The huntsmen that lie in A rank and above. Those that went above others head and shoulder. A rank like A meant that you had talent in everything huntsman related and that you honed it without rest. S rank meant you were a prodigy that lived long enough to become something more. SS rank was for legends.

The fact that Dexter made A rank was unsurprising. He had experience from two decades fighting. Then he had a wide range of abilities from weapon crafting to an arsenal of aura techniques for most any situation at his fingertips. Dexter currently had eighteen aura techniques in total. Most hunters had a few basic ones. Dexter didn't bother to even count the basic ones now. He had eighteen advanced techniques that were combat ready. More would just clutter his fighting style. He had stopped developing new techniques and focused on what skills he already had a year ago. He had already been splitting time from techniques and skills for a year before that too. He had simply had enough aura techniques. There was no need for any more.

That said most A rankers and nearly every S ranker had one thing Dexter didn't. A specialization. It was typical for high ranking hunters to have a specialization. Something that they had that nobody else had. Often this was a semblance but it could also be a strong and rare sword style or an especially unique weapon. It was those other cases that hunters often stood out though. Hunters without a specialized strength had something others didn't. Versatility.

Most A rankers spend their whole lives working to get to the point where they could be called A rank. They honed their strength in training during the day and covered their weaknesses during the night. The others, the versatile ones, did no such thing. The more versatile hunters were often raised differently. They were wanderers. Exceptional people who trained themselves to be strong. They didn't train to be strong. They used their skills and gained more along the way. From gardening to bartering to leadership and beyond this breed of hunters were rare and powerful in a way that the taught and trained hunters were not.

Dexter was undoubtedly one of these more versatile hunters. In his combat exploits more recently he had capitalized not on one skill but a range of them. His aura techniques were a testament to that. Most hunters knew two or three if they bothered to learn one. Five among the best. Dexter couldn't do any of his amazingly but when the situation called for it he rarely didn't have a technique for it. Joan had taken the more traditional route of only learning a few well and knew only four techniques.

It was times like these that Dexter's versatility in aura techniques was immensely useful. Hiding his aura in his network placed around his skin wasn't a particularly powerful skill but in cases like this one it came immensely useful. Times when you were sneaking into a mistralian camp.

Dexter stalked through the grass as stealthily as he could. His padded feet and lightweight frame hiding his footfalls. He made sure to not disturb the grass around him. The light wind blowing would have masked him moving some of the stalks of grass to make a more convenient route but Dexter didn't dare to take the easy route in an operation where there was no real limit on his success. He would occasionally brush past one, bending it a little more than usual, but it wasn't like he was the only animal in the grass. He had seen two raccoons and a beowolf already.

It took a long and boring while but he eventually navigated through the quarter mile to the camp and peered through his cover to the camp. There was a clear stretch of land between the grass and walls of the camp roughly fifteen yards in length though it was doubtful that anybody bothered to measure.

There was a small gap in the wall where a hunter checked passes from visiting army personnel and a guard who checked any merchants ferrying supplies to be sold or caravans bringing food for the Mistral/Mantle army. On top of the wooden wall there were watchmen stationed peering out every which direction across the field and the sparse forest Dexter knew lie opposite his side of the wall. (Or as close to a forest as you could get in Vacuo. It was horribly dry and half dead year round but there were still trees with sap and leaves. It was practically an oasis)

Obviously Dexter couldn't just waltz through the line. He might be able to pickpocket a military man for his pass but he would have to get close to the line for that. The line was on the road so he would have to emerge from the grass as a faunus. Unacceptable.

The other options were to look for a weak point in the watchmen postings around the wall, wait for a rotation of the watch which might not even work well, or find some exceptionally sneaky way to get in. None of those were exceptionally preferable. Not failsafe. The only other option would be to be taken into the camp by someone. Hopping into a caravan might work but then he would be in the middle of a caravan that would be watched by the soldiers if the army had any brains or discipline, which they tended to have both of. The second in spades.

The only way to get in would be to be taken in by a soldier. There was one way of doing that although it would be… distasteful. Dexter tried to think of other good options and came up blank. He sighed in exasperation but it came out as a quiet mew. He twitched an ear in irritation. He hated this plan already.

|-\\\/-|

Lyra Valkyrie pranced through the roads of the camp happily. She was having a fantastic day! She had managed to skip her duties as clan head for the day! Sure, Desten was desperately trying to push her into meetings but he was her secretary. He was supposed to push away those pesky suitors and diplomats.

Desten had to start appreciating the finer things in life. Like waffles! She had been pushing for a portion of the clan budget to be granted for waffles daily but she had been denied. The clan elders, old fools they are, claimed that the best foods were either oatmeal, egg sandwiches, breakfast burritos, granola bars, or fruit smoothies depending on who you asked. They were all wrong obviously. Them and the entire rest of her clan would be enlightened one day.

Lyra's smile doubled in width as she began skipping through the road. It was time for her favorite time. Free time! She rarely got free time so she had pent up energy from all of her responsibilities. She had to release all of her energy in short bursts during free time. Like today!

It kind of scared people but her normal attitude was just WAY calmer than other Valkyries normally. She kind of had to be calmer as clan head. Kind of like the elders. Controlling the lightning inside you or something like that, one of them had once said in that wise grandpa tone. It just took a lot of practice meditating and stuff. But today she just ABSOLUTELY EXPLODED with all that pent up energy! Like a spa day!

It had given her a bit of a reputation as the most hyperactive Valkyrie, which was completely untrue! Anyways… Today was a little different as free time goes. She had put aside this portion of the day for one purpose and one purpose only. Syrup!

The trees outside of the camp weren't forever fall quality but they were still filled with syrup. She knew because she had actually sliced one of them half open by accident. She had seen some sticky stuff on her battleaxe so she obviously licked it and found that it was syrup! It was a little thick and had a sort of sour tang but it was still syrup. She planned to add some water and sugar to make it worthy of being put onto her waffles. It was going to be awesome!

As she came to the wall she scaled up it easily. The guard turned around looking to shout at her but paled and turned around quickly. He then winced and rubbed his neck. Did he get whiplash? Poor guy! Lyra almost stopped to help the guy out but paused. She had a mission to do. A culinary mission! The guard's sacrifice of his neck would not be in vain!

As she passed the guard she offered him a salute. "Thank you for your sacrifice. It will not be forgotten." The guard looked at the floor. She tried to make eye contact by laying on the floor and staring up at him but he suddenly found the clouds very interesting. She got up and on her toes and tried to make eye contact again but he looked as far left as he could. Oh! This was an exercise for his whiplash! Was it yoga? It was probably yoga. Getting the muscles loose and limber, eh? Nice!

"Have fun with your yoga!" She called with as much enthusiasm as she could give, which she was told was a lot when she was in 'hyper mode'. The guard's hand met his face and he made what people called the "why me" face. People did that a lot when they met her clan. Or her when she was like this.

You know come to think of it she was kind of like a werewolf. Super irrational and crazy for a little while and then completely normal the rest of the time! Or maybe it was more like a psychotic break or a split personality… nope! Happy thoughts now! Why was she thinking this when there was yoga to be done? WAIT SYRUP!

With her respects to her new friend who she was definitely going to hunt down and introduce to the majesty of waffles -because that's what friends do!- she had to go tap those trees for sap. She would not fail on this quest. Too many necks have already been sacrificed for her to fail!

Lyra's braided hair fell onto her back as she landed superhero style on the other side of the wall. She looked up determinedly and marched forwards with steely eyes as she continued her quest. Then suddenly…

" _Mew…"_

… "OHMYGOSHKITTYAREYOUINPAIN?!" Lyra ran to the poor kitty who made such a quiet and adorable mew as fast as she could, which was pretty fast. All that conditioning had it's advantages. She was also super strong for her age. It was pretty sweet. Like this kitty she was about to help!

She ran to the poor kitten as fast as she could. When she looked around though she saw nothing. She had to find the poor kitty! He/She needed help and waffles as soon as possible! Waffles were healing for the soul! Luckily Lyra had just the thing for finding cats. Her semblance!

Something in her, probably that rational and calm part of her that was normally in charge, was yelling at her for using her semblance to find a kitten. Well her rational side wasn't giving any better ideas so whatever normal Lyra. Go do some paperwork or other boring clan head stuff. Her normal side threw her hands in the air and left then. She'll be back. There wasn't anywhere else for her to go after all.

"Don't worry kitty! I'll find you in just a moment!" Lyra closed her eyes and found her bubbly center quickly. She gave her bubbly center a hug and felt the pull on her aura. She focused for five seconds and heard the boom from the sky that indicated her semblance activating. She couldn't stand to let that poor kitty be lost though so she poured a whole half of her aura into her semblance, which ate up her aura as it always did. Geez, so greedy. She kept a leash on the output of her semblance though. It wouldn't be very nice to rain on the camp.

A strong wind whipped through the air and Lyra felt a few droplets of water on her skin. She only really needed the wind though. She turned her head around before she had a revelation and looked down. There! A little ball of fluff just a little bigger than her hand in length and skinny in width looked up at her with wide and terrified eyes. Clearly this poor lost kitty had been beset by a terrible beast!

She knelt down and scooped up the kitty and drew it into a hug. She almost used all of her strength to hug her (the kitty didn't have any dangly bits) but she stopped at the last second and only used about three quarters of her normal strength. The kitty needed as much love as she could get after all. The kitty's eyes looked to nearly pop out of her skull and she let the hug go and cradled the poor kitty in her arms. She looked like she had seen a demon! This needed fixing! Whatever trauma this kitty had gone through only waffles could fix!

"Don't worry Miss Fluffy! I'll bring you in and shower you in waffles! Then you'll be all better!" Miss Fluffy looked up at her with miserable eyes and went limp. It was the "I give up" pose! She had seen Desten do all the time! And yogurt guard! She means The Yoga Guardian! The Yagagu! The Yabbadabbado! Whatever… She could see the 'I give up' pose anywhere! Lyra gasped and raced back to the camp as fast as she could go.

When she leaped over the wall her friend mister whiplash didn't even react. "OUT OF THE WAY! THIS KITTY NEEDS WAFFLES!" Lyra shouted out. People quickly got out of the way when she rushed past. Of course they understood the severity of the situation!

They looked at the poor cat with pity. Good! Miss Fluffy had clearly been assaulted by something or someone terrible to get such miserable eyes! She would find out as soon as she force fed her waffles! (She didn't think Miss Fluffy could eat waffles on her own. Oh! That's a great name! And she was super fluffy!)

As she bursted through the doors to the mess hall she shouted as loudly as she could "I NEED AS MANY WAFFLES AS WE HAVE FOR AN INJURED ANIMAL ASAP! GO!"

|-\\\/-|

Dexter was figuring it out. There had been a pattern to his life. First there was his mother. While his mother was great she wasn't exactly normal by any means. He still remembered when she had hung a stocking up and ordered her grimm to steal the biggest christmas tree they could. She had lain in wait with many powerful grimm by a chimney she had constructed to 'kill santa'. She had cursed herself in the morning.

She thought that santa, "A powerful foe who seeks to spread hope to the humans" had been too smart for her ambush. The next few years she had been more festive. "To lure him in" she said. He still remembered burning an effigy of the grinch in honor of Santa. He wasn't sure if that was a christmas tradition or not but his mother said they were doing it so they did it. That was just one of many extreme eccentricities she had. She was also extremely powerful.

Next was Laura. She was eccentric for sure. He remembered the absurd plans of hers that actually somehow worked. Her extreme attachment to him was also quite odd and somewhat terrifying in some respects. She was more normal most of the time but situations that would normally be normal would evolve into absurd tales so ridiculous that others would doubt their authenticity.

She also was extremely powerful with her flinging of ice, lightning, and fire. Not to mention the flying she could do when she really got into it though she didn't do that often. It used a lot of concentration and power, she explained. Too much power used at one time burnt her out and gave her a migraine.

Now there was Lyra Valkyrie. Laura had gone over all of the notable hunters in their and Mistral's army in a few team meetings. Dexter still recalled Lyra because Laura actually admired her a little. Lyra had the moniker of 'The stormcaller' due to her semblance, called stormcaller, which summons storms. Laura actually drew a lot of parallels between them. Making storms, similar names, and reported eccentricities every which way.

Despite the power of the semblance it wasn't really accurate. Lyra could control the lightning and air from her storm somewhat but it wasn't much of a subtle tool. It also used an absurd amount of aura. Luckily Lyra was born with a large pool of aura and it only grew bigger through her life.

She wasn't a slouch with her battleaxe either. And she was a Valkyrie, who were known for their bubbly happiness, high amounts of strength, and disturbing obsession for breakfast foods of various types. She had even mastered her energy to a degree so she could actually be serious rather than always hyperactive. He just happened to have caught her while she released her pent up enthusiasm.

Lyra was basically Laura 2.0 with more craziness and strength. That is to say, Dexter's nightmare. Did he mention that she was one of Mistral's S rankers despite being from a small minor clan? The Valkyries were pretty weak politically until Lyra came along.

Lyra's strength negated her utter lack of political competence and lack of care for it. Now the Valkyries were well known if not well respected as a clan. They mostly gave out C and B ranked hunters before Lyra. Now they were still giving out C and B ranked hunters but they had one of the four S rankers of Mistral at their head.

Lyra's energy was said to be short lived and that for a Valkyrie she was normally quite mellow. It was only after keeping the energy pent up that she let loose and exhausted everybody. Dexter could see that. Her bright forest green eyes were full of life and energy but also quite cunning and kind.

Dexter had considered trying to kill Lyra. It would be sad but in a war it would be a good move. Lyra was powerful and despite her attitude she had killed before if not often. Nobody who was S ranked got there without blood being spilt.

Despite this, though, Lyra was an S rank. She might catch him and the whole plan would be ruined. Vale would also be blamed for starting a hunter related issue in the middle of their army camp. Not restricted but it wouldn't reflect well on Vale. Dexter pushed from his mind that killing Lyra would feel like killing a child or Laura. Neither of which he was willing to do. He was a monster, sure, but that didn't mean he had to act like one all the time.

It was safer to go along with the mission as it was at any rate. Dexter unsteadily got to his feet after being force fed pancakes and being left in Lyra's private quarters. His balance was still off after being fed so many pancakes. Dexter adjusted his size to fix his new balance and shook off the mental strain of just being near Lyra. She really was worse than Laura in her eccentricities.

A quick review of what he was here to do ran through Dexter's head. He wasn't here to make friends. He was here to help his friends. Then again, that didn't mean he had to kill anyone here. They were still people after all. Lyra's strong personality just reminded him of that. It wouldn't do to forget that.

Dexter took notice of Lyra's room for the first time. With Lyra having run off saying something about tapping trees the black hole of attention that was Lyra Valkyrie had rushed out of the room leaving Dexter to find something to do.

The room was stuffed to the brim with personality. It made Dexter wonder why Lyra was fighting for a side that actively wanted to repress emotions when she expressed hers so avidly in even her temporary room. The camp hadn't been up for more than eight months Dexter knew.

On Lyra's dresser were small portraits of her with people who looked to be friends as well as her in some interesting scenes such as riding on a goliath (he thought Laura was the first to come up with that. Small world.), Lyra smiling infectiously at the viewer, and her having a group hug with friends.

Dexter's attention was then taken with the wall, in which flowers were painted. How girly. Dexter couldn't help but appreciate the artwork though. Some of them were very intricate and well done. Then he looked a little lower…

Sitting on a shelf was a collection of grimm dolls. An ursa, beowolf, mini-goliath, deathstalker, king taijitsu, queen taijutsu (Like a king Taijitsu but with the heads forking out of one side instead of being a snake rope), a bloodzealot, a vampus (a giant bat-grimm), and a cackler (a beowolf with extra sharp teeth, long spear-like claws, and an emancipated build with an infamous cackling laugh), and… A blank spot.

Dexter stared at the blank spot for a moment before looking over all of the others again. The others all had a plate under them, declaring their species. He hadn't paid attention because he was so entranced by his old dolls. He looked at the last plate. Dragon…

Dexter remembered that one. Only once had he made a dragon doll. Just one. He wanted it to be special. He had sold it to his usual merchant who had sold it to someone else. Pretty soon people realized that there was only one and the money thrown around for it was startling. Dexter smiled when his merchant had told him. Dragons were awesome. They deserved to be respected. They weren't some common doll you could just buy like the others. Come to think of it, Dexter had only ever made four of the vampus grimm.

Looking around a little more Dexter noticed something else of note. A packet of paper and a leather bound journal by the display shelf. Dexter absentmindedly shifted to his faunus form and grasped the packet first. His eyes widened as he stared at the first few pages. Well, now that he looked at them, the diagrams. The papers were filled with diagrams of potential grimm he could make. The drawings were detailed, accurate, and completely doable.

Dexter flipped through the grimm with increasing speed. He had known about some of these. He had heard about others. He hadn't even conceived about some of them even existing they were so absurd. Somehow, though, he doubted they were make-believe. They were too detailed with a few sparse notes on how to defeat them. Were these… were these grimm that Lyra had killed?!

Dexter stopped flipping through the packet and stared at the front page. "Ideas for the Grimm Maker by Lyra Valkyrie". Dexter blinked at the papers for a few second as the gears in his brain stopped working. When they started working again Dexter set the papers down and looked to the journal. It wasn't titled. With some trepidation he opened the first page.

 _Sighting 1: The Grimm Maker, now called the GM for shorthand, was sighted at the village of Tsubaki this month. This is actually concrete because of the amount of sightings. Art reported that the amount of sightings was too numerous and exact to be false. Well, it's the best lead he has. The townspeople said that he was with a group of four Valean hunters. This means that he has some reason to be in the eastern islands and is necessary enough to warrant protection. Why though?_

Dexter frowned at the entry. He had been to Tsubaki a few times actually. It flipped between Vale and Mistral a few times so he had to stop by with his team to keep the grimm away. He turned most of the pages away. He had no interest in Lyra's hunt for him but rather her reason for it and her results. He didn't have the time to flp through the whole journal anyways.

 _Sighting 58: Another false lead. I don't get it! He pops up in random places, walks away in one direction, and appears at an entirely different place or at his destination way too fast! Nobody in Vale or Vacuo has a teleportation or movement semblance capable of this! Any semblance of that sort is either close range, needs a marker, or can only transport one person at a time! And movement semblances just plain don't work in either stamina or speed not to mention transporting five people! And sightings of him and his companions have become scarcer. Even when they show up it's never as a full group. I've lost the resources to maintain the search. I'm recalling Art and being ordered to report to high command at Vacuo. As of right now I'm suspending the search. Let it be known that on year two month nine of the so-called great war I, Lyra Valkyrie, am TEMPORARILY suspending my search for the Grimm Maker. I swear on my clan's name I will find this ma - no. This elusive bastard. I'll gather more resources and favors from the war and track down this irritating man._

 _The elders are getting more and more pushy about marriage. I'm of age? I AM A TWENTY EIGHT YEAR OLD ADULT AND I CAN MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS! You would think being S class would solve all of your problems but Nooo~. It only solves most of them._

 _With the pressure to find a husband, the responsibilities of the war, and the duties of being a clan head I barely have any free time left. I'll keep my personal favors and resources for now and when the war ends I'll hunt this guy down myself if I have to. It used to be about finding a friend I could commission toys and dolls from -maybe training dummies- but now I've got the collection (sans the dragon)._

 _Then it was about gaining control over a popular market somehow by finding this guy since nobody could figure out how he made the skeletal structures inside the grimm so soft yet retain their shape. Now… I just want to meet him. I'm curious about him. I've got a few ideas for what to do when I meet him but I'm not going to state them here. A few of them lie with the clan elders as well as myself like the market control idea as well so I don't know if they will work. Anyways, as of now I'm suspending the search… Geez. This is an investigation journal. Not a diary._

Dexter set down the journal with a frown… in all honesty in the hour he had known Lyra he could admit that he liked her. If he had met her before he had met Laura he would freely admit that he could have considered her his alpha. Even Laura wasn't so much of his alpha now with himself nearly at the same level as she was when they went all out. She was more like a close friend. If he could figure out how to shift into a dragon he could certainly beat her. It wasn't really about the status of alpha now, though. He had clung to such primitive thinking when he was fresh from the grimmlands but now he had grown past that mental immaturity.

Dexter set down the journal and made a decision. It wouldn't be perfect but it would be better than nothing. He sat down on Lyra's bed -good mother that was soft!- and pulled bone and scaly hide from his semblance. He felt the bone skeleton grow from nothing. He didn't make it soft bone this time. This wasn't a children's toy like so many beowolves and ursa he had made. This was a statute to a warrior he respected.

Dexter worked on the dragon for a minute before he stopped and stared at the piece… He dropped it on the floor and stomped harshly on it. A few more stomps and it broke under his feet. It wasn't right. That wasn't what a dragon should be like. It wasn't the savage beast as the paintings depicted it. Dexter still remembered when he was immensely young and he looked into a cave in the hills and saw a dragon. It was brutal looking when he thought back on it. There was a savageness to it's beauty but it wasn't brutal. It wasn't… that thing he was making.

Dragons were the highest servants of his mother. They had a unique ability other grimm didn't. They could carry spawning pools. The pools that would create grimm could be drawn into it's may and scattered across an area. This was not a burden carried lightly. When a dragon was brought out of it's solitude for a task there was a message of success. That no matter what happened the mission it was entrusted with would go complete.

When they carried a spawner there was the message that the dragon would not die. A spawner was a valuable thing. A storage for literal millions of grimm to be released at the dragon's discretion (though they could only release one per second, Dexter knew) or over time. His mother's power in liquid form.

It took her roughly ten hours to make one spawner. One spawner could function for more than a century. In other words, dragons were his mother's most trusted agents. Not objects of terror and savagery. She really didn't want to spend time making spawners. She just wanted to laze around and plot for world domination…

With this in mind Dexter determinedly set out to create a true dragon. He started with the bone. That, at least, he had gotten right. He then began to layer scales over it but he hesitated. This wasn't his mother's dragon. It was his dragon, as lifeless as it was. With this in mind Dexter tried something different.

Dexter began to draw hide across the dragon but it was not black. The hide was a dark ashen gray. The wings were not red. They were not tattered. They were pale white and proudly whole. Finally Dexter came to the mask. Arguably the most important part of a grimm. It was not jagged and terrifying. It was sleek and angular. Efficient. The mask of a predator. Not an intimidator. But that wasn't all. The bone mask wasn't white. It was black. Certainly the most impactful change so far.

Now Dexter came to the eyes. Normally he used glass beads or marbles. Trying out something he had only tried a few times before Dexter made a bead of bone and made the iris a piercing violet and the sclera red. Finishing off was spines. The claw-like spines were no more. Dexter used plates he angled and layered them on top of each other that he sharpened to a fine edge. To end it Dexter grew claws of immense sharpness on his dragon and a long spear-like point to the tail.

With an exhale Dexter released the figurine and admired it. It was certainly a grimm but to call it anything other than unique would be a dishonor. Dexter awed at it and decided that it was far more beautiful than any of his mother's creations to him. With a degree of reverence Dexter walked to the empty spot of Lyra's shelf and placed his dragon there with pride. Despite the color difference it fit in quite well with his other creations.

Dexter looked at the shelf full of one of every type of his creations and smiled. It was nice to know what an effect his creations had on some people. Damn being on Mistral's side. He respected Lyra and he was going to show it.

Dexter snapped to attention when a voice slowly increasing in volume came into notice. "Misses Fluffy I'm almoST THERE DON'T WORRY I BROUGHT-" Lyra Valkyrie bursted through the poor door with such strength that Dexter worried that the poor door would fly off of it's hinges. Lyra herself was proudly holding high a plate burdened under the weight of a stack of waffles and some… Delicious smelling syrup. "LYRA'S SPECIALTY WAFFLES!"

Dexter stared at Lyra for a solid five seconds in the eyes. Hm? She was heterochromic too! Orange and green, Dexter noticed. Nice. Red and purple was better though. Wasn't Lyra just a wellspring of weirdness like him?

"So… wait… black cloak, red and indigo eyes, handsome face… OHMYGODAREYOUTHEGRIMMMAKER!" Lyra then froze for a moment. "YOU'REMISSFLUFFYTHEFLUFFIESTCATEVER?!"

One more freeze. "CANIHAVEYOURAUTOGRAPH?!"

Dexter groaned. This was possibly the most failed mission he had ever been on.

"I'LLGIVEYOUWAFFLES!" Definitely the biggest failure he's had. Ever.

|-\\\/-|

 **AN: The cackler was actually devised by the author Super Saiyan Cyndaquil. I don't mean to steal the guy's work. I mean putting his grimm in this story as a nod of respect for the guy. It's a good grimm. I tend to make up all of the other grimm up on the spot. I'll be using it once later in the story. I'll do it proud. I'm also hardly using it at all. I just didn't want to make another OC grimm.**

 **I also noticed that I make a lot of characters who have something in common with storms. In both this and A wizard's game, my other fic. There's Laura. I mean she's a maiden so she just does stuff and it happens. That's basically how I envision a maiden. Then there's Lyra, who… well the Valkyries have the whole lightning thing going on and I need her to be powerful for the plot to happen and… well that's it. I just needed that. So I gave her a powerful semblance and there it was. Then my main character in the other fic can do some storm stuff (no spoilers) later on in the fic… I mean yeah it's a cool power but I'm not actively trying to make storm people. Really! I'm not!**


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: I'm sorry. Life crept up on me and I couldn't get to my computer for a while.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 23**

 **The imprisonment**

Dexter looked with his most irritated scowl to the Valkyrie and ignored her offer of waffles. "No. I'm not miss Fluffy. I am wondering, though, why that name follows me everywhere."

"It's because you're fluffy, obviously!" Lyra dismissed easily. Then her eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh! You're the Grimm maker! How do you do it?! Will you make me grimm if I give you waffles?! How do you teleport?!"

Dexter ignored every one of those questions and, in a move inspired by years of dealing with Laura, simply pointed to his dragon. Lyra nearly dropped her plate of waffles but managed to catch it and place it on a nearby table with lightning speed before practically throwing herself towards the dragon. She's like a child… Just like Laura was sometimes.

Dexter watched her trace the outline of the dragon with some awe before realizing something. "Wait a minute… this isn't the dragon!"

Dexter smiled slightly. "No. The other dragon is a fake. This is the real one."

Lyra looked immensely skeptical. "Prove it." Dexter looked with amusement in his eyes. He held out his hand and, in a practiced motion, produced a beowolf doll from scratch. He added in the substitute bone eyes in the same crimson as the markings found on powerful grimm masks.

"Oooooh…" Laura oohed. Dexter tossed the doll to her and she caught it easily. She felt the fur, compared the stances of the grimm to her original beowolf, and hugged it. "A deathstalker and I'll believe it." She demanded. Dexter rolled his eyes and began a deathstalker. Really, Women were so pushy sometimes.

In the two minutes it took to make the deathstalker Lyra watched with interest. When it was completed she inspected it and placed it on a table. Then she lost some of her energy and happiness somewhat.

"Ugh. I hate this part." she muttered sadly. She looked to Dexter with serious eyes. "Look, I would love to talk with you and all but I'm still a hunter. I'm going to have to interrogate you on a few things. We can totally be friends if you're not a Valean or Vacuan hunter but I have to do this. Sorry."

Dexter nodded understandingly. Internally he was yelling at himself for getting caught while he decided to make a doll in the middle of enemy headquarters. He was slowly being corrupted by Laura it seemed. This was an S ranked huntress. He probably wouldn't be able to beat her. Maybe he could run and hide if he was lucky but fighting was a no-go. He was perfectly willing to talk it out though. From the looks of it so was she. Perhaps she was willing to try that monopoly idea she talked about in her stalker journal.

Lyra looked as if to ask a question but sighed wearily. "This is either an army matter or a clan matter if I keep it quiet. I'll keep it a clan matter for now and see how it works out. We still have to have an elder and a witness to my interrogation. Then we can decide to either turn you to the army or decide an alternate punishment." Dexter nodded. Really was he just going to deny this woman's generosity? If he saw an enemy in his personal space he'd attack first no questions asked.

"Well come along then." Lyra said with some relief. Dexter decided that at this point that since his cover was blown he may as well stop being stealthy. He adjusted his vessels to release aura to enhance him once more and was done in a few seconds. He had practiced a few times and adjusting vessels wasn't hard once you got the hang of it.

As he followed Lyra he passed a few members of the Valkyrie clan. Most of them had the red/orange hair that Lyra had but there were a few with blond hair or cherry hair. Dexter didn't see any dark hair whatsoever. Dexter also peered at their auras and took note that they were all bubbly and filled with energy. Not aura but more like their auras were eager to do things. Lyra's aura especially was energetic. It practically vibrated.

"Oh! Grandma!" Lyra called out excitedly. "This is my grandma Freya. She's in the council of elders and she'll be taking over for your trial as a… you know what? She'll just be around to shut people up." An older looking Valkyrie with a warm smile on her face turned around. She wore a red shirt and black pants.

"Hm? What is it Lyra?" the old lady asked. Then she saw Dexter and her face grew a little less warm and a little more curious and suspicious. "And this is?"

"This is… Um… wait, what's your name again?" Lyra had the good conscience to look a little embarrassed. Dexter smiled forgivingly. He felt like he had been doing a lot of smiling lately. Odd for the beginning of a major conflict.

"It's Dexter. Dexter… Frost."

Freya caught onto his hesitance. Hopefully she would have the good grace to-"Why the hesitation with the last name?"

Dexter groaned internally. Were all Valkyries like this? Well, the truth couldn't hurt, could it? "I don't actually have a last name. Or if I do I was too young to remember it when it was told to me. My best friend offered the name Frost for me after some time together."

A hardened look entered the lady's eyes. "I see… and would this friend happen to be a woman?" Dexter frowned. What did that have to do with it? He nodded anyways. "I see… then you'll be known as Dexter White in our clan's holding, as is customary for orphans without last names in Mistral. Now, Lyra, what is it you want exactly?"

"Dexter is the man I've been looking for for the past few years!"

The lady's eyes widened. "The Grimm Maker?!" She looked to Dexter as if looking at him in a new light. A cunning glint seemed to enter her eyes. It seemed to be quickly hidden. "That is interesting. Why, though, are you approaching me now? Just to introduce me?"

Lyra frowned before leaning close and whispering into Freya's ear. Freya frowned and had a grave look on her face. "I see. That is a serious matter indeed. I assume you'll want Desten as witness?" Lyra grinned and nodded. A wolfish smile crossed the old lady's face. "Smart girl. I'm with you all the way. Lead on."

Lyra grinned and skipped along. It didn't look out of place in the Valkyrie clan home. Freya followed her at a walking pace. Rather soon they arrived at a room with a desk piled high with papers. Behind the desk was a tired looking man with dark hair and gunmetal eyes. He was one of the few people Dexter had seen without the signs of being a Valkyrie.

"Desten!" Lyra cried. Desten looked up in alarm with widened eyes. Too late. Lyra had already swerved around his desk and pulled the man into one of her bone pulverising hugs. The man looked at the ceiling with a look that spoke of him accepting his fate. Dexter smugly pegged him as 'Lyra's bitch'.

"Desten! We actually need you for something important!" Desten looked only vaguely irritated at that. "We need you to be a witness! Now come on!" Lyra pulled Desten, who had amusingly not said a word, through the door. Desten managed almost impressively to put a few words out.

"What's the subject? And why not Amanda like you normally do?" Lyra looked a little nervous even under with all that mirth and energy.

"Um… Freya will fill you in when we get there." Desten looked confused for a moment before he glanced around and noticed Freya. Presumably for the first time. Dexter wasn't even surprised. Lyra tended to take up the whole room with her personality.

It wasn't a long walk before the group arrived at a stairwell… into a dark basement. "Really?" Dexter deadpanned.

Lyra looked sheepish. "Ah, nobody ever uses the basement. All that's down there is storage, records, and the holding cells. Nobody ever uses those sections of the compound except the record keeping guys and I'm pretty sure they live in the darkness and live on an endless stream of suffering due to paperwork." Desten looked mildly annoyed, as he tended to do, but said nothing to refute that.

"Well come along." Freya said amicably. She led the way down the stone stairs and shuffled off. A moment later the lights were on. As Dexter looked around he saw nothing other than shelves of folders filled with paper. Three doors led out of the aisles of records. The left one was labeled above the door as recordkeeping. The middle one was proclaimed as storage. The right one was labeled holding cells and looked a little dusty.

"A-...Aaa-... ACHOO!" Lyra sneezed mightily at the door to the holding cells and a good portion of the dust was puffed away. Somebody really should clean this.

Lyra opened the door, which creaked ominously, and groped around for a lightswitch. Dexter hadn't actually noticed it before but the compound probably had it's own generator. They were an immense rarity due to not only being rather expensive but horribly expensive to maintain due to not using dust efficiently and using a lot of it as a result. Come to think of it the Valkyries probably just filled a battery with one of their electricity semblances. It would help novices to control the voltage they output and would be good for training, Dexter rationalized. He would pose the idea to Laura when they got back. It would solve the problems they had had with lighting their bunker.

"Would you sit in that cell over there please?" Lyra pointed to a room with a few chairs and a table. It was rather bland and tasteless but Dexter shrugged and walked in.

He sat down and wandered into thought. He would readily admit that he liked the Valkyries so far. They had been energetic and mirthful. Lyra had managed to even be oddly polite on top of all that. Despite her seemingly rather brash attitude she was obviously smart as well. She wasn't dumb either. Her ideas in her location journal entries proved that she had actually thought her pursuit through. She had been playing by Mistral's rules as well and still getting her way through some rather generous favoritism Mistral seemed to play with the clans. That is, if the self-governance wasn't only for the clans who produced an S ranked hunter. If it wasn't Dexter could see how Mistral kept the support of a clan of expressive individuals like the Valkyries.

Dexter frowned as he realized that he actually quite liked Lyra. She was fun to be around. It reminded him of Laura before she got forceful with her advances. Dexter still failed to see why she acted that way. He had clearly expressed his lack of interest, hadn't he? Well… actually he still allowed her into his hammock and tried to be friendly with her. Perhaps that sends the wrong message? It concerned Dexter that his trying to respect their friendship and not hurt her feelings might have been unnecessary coddling. He should try to fix this when he got back.

Meeting with Lyra had reminded him of what his relationship used to be. Something fun and pleasant for them both though he had only known Lyra for about fifteen minutes. Now, though, it was stifling to be near her when she was pursuing him. Pressuring him into a relationship he didn't want. She was even keeping secrets from him. There had always been a few mutual secrets between them but they were always remnants of a darker past. Laura's power to control the elements and Dexter's strangely powerful semblance to transform as well as his strange preference to transform into creatures heavily resembling grimm without masks was another.

Interrupting Dexter's reflection Lyra came inside the room with Freya and Desten. Desten had apparently been filled in because he looked to Dexter warily. Dexter made sure to keep a poker face on. Freya looked vaguely amused at the whole situation. Lyra had a neutral look down to pat. She really was serious now. Dexter put on a poker face to follow suite.

Lyra began with a small sigh. "Alright. Dexter White, you are considered guilty of breaking into my private quarters, suspicion of being an enemy spy, and suspicious actions within a warzone. Are there any objections to these accusations?"

Dexter raised an eyebrow. Objections? Well not really. However, they didn't know that he was entirely guilty so… "Actually yes." Lyra tilted her head a little questioningly. _"Cute."_ came an unwilling thought of Dexter's. Wait Mancer did the same thing. Shit. He indirectly called another guy cute. "I was in the forest looking for an object a friend of mine had lost in the forest. I was weary of being around the territory of a Mistralian camp so I was using my semblance to appear as a cat. The most harmless form I had. I yelled in frustration after searching for the object for two hours. Lyra heard this cry and rushed to my… rescue. I was then apprehended and, while stunned from the nature of my apprehension, was abducted and placed into Lyra's quarters. I did not willingly or purposefully enter Lyra's quarters and was unable to alert her as to my true nature."

The three interrogators seemed somewhat off put by Dexter's story. "What do you mean when you refer to your semblance?" Freya questioned.

"Body manipulation." Dexter answered. Freya gestured for him to continue. "I am capable of reforming any feature of my body so long as I have the aura to do so - biomass is not an issue - and the organism I attempt to become is livibly viable. I often use this feature of my semblance to optimize my body for any specific purpose. I also use my bone often to create weapons, armor, or objects I deem worthy to create such as my dolls. While my semblance has many strong points my body does not shield myself. I do not know why this is."

Lyra frowned while Freya looked interested. "What sort of forms do you have the ability to transform into?" Lyra questioned. Dexter maintained his poker face.

"I can transform into a large variety of organisms however the ones I most often use are my current form-" Lyra and Freya narrowed their eyes. Desten tensed uncomfortably. "A nevermoore, alpha beowolf, a specialty grimm somewhat like a jaguar or lynx, and I occasionally use more domestic forms like a cat or dog."

"Is this your true form?" Surprisingly it was Desten, who had been quiet as of yet, who spoke.

"You are a witness Desten." Lyra spoke harshly. "You are not to interrupt this interrogation." Desten scowled but obeyed. Take that, Lyra's bitch. Now be quiet. Lyra took a deep breath and spoke. "Ignoring Desten's interruption the question was on everybody's minds."

"Of course." Dexter agreed. "To answer your question yes this is the form I was born in." The group relaxed somewhat. "However…" He baited. They tensed up again and eyed him suspiciously. "I am wearing a red contact. I'm heterochromic." Dexter smirked at the little bait and switch. Lyra glared at him and growled. Dexter raised an eyebrow again. Was Lyra a faunus? He sniffed the air to make sure that no she was not a faunus. No she was just feisty. The other two gave a flat look to Dexter.

"Would you remove it please?" Freya was technically ordering him, Dexter knew. It wasn't much trouble so Dexter reached to the contact before pulling it away from his eye.

Nobody seemed to particularly care about Dexter's so-called cursed eyes. Red heterochromic was bad, he remembered. Come to think of it they hadn't cared that he was a faunus either. Dexter had learned to just ignore the occasional dirty looks sent his way after a while with Laura on the road. He liked his extra senses far too much to be rid of and screw what the racists thought. He could easily turn away anybody who came to him with ill intent. He sometimes didn't even notice anymore. People were far more focused on nationalism now than racism but there was that occasional ass who wanted to start something. That village where he met Laura was something of an outlier but not the last one Dexter had been to. Actually, faunus are slaves in Mistral and Mantle weren't they? So why did the Valkyries not care? He should ask later.

"Anyways, am I cleared from the charge of breaking and entering now?" Dexter asked.

"One more thing." Freya said. "What was the object you were sent to retrieve and what was the name of the person who sent you?" Dexter wiped his smirk from his face back into neutral again.

"I was sent to retrieve a badge of bone I made for my friend some time ago. She believes she dropped it somewhere in the forest but there's a lot of ground to cover. I offered to just make her a new one but she refused, saying that it was for nostalgia's sake. After so much time spent combing the forest I believe that she left it in her pocket and forgot about it or something of the sort."

"And her name?" Lyra prodded.

"Laura Frost."

The three pondered the name but apparently came up with nothing. "Is there anything we should know about your friend?" Freya asked.

Dexter nodded. "She's a Valean huntress. She was one of the ones accompanying me in the eastern islands." Still Freya couldn't seemingly remember the woman. She'd probably find out later.

Lyra frowned. "We'll get into that later. For now I think it's safe that, whatever Dexter's for being in the surrounding forest, he was not doing anything illegal. I move that we drop the charge of breaking into my quarters."

"Agreed." Freya stated. "Now, though, we need to know what you were doing in a warzone and you need to show that you're not an enemy spy."

Dexter paused for a moment. "I'd actually like to ask… these charges seem related to the Mistralian and Mantlian joint army. Why is this portion of the trial being conducted by members of the Valkyrie clan?"

"While the second and third charges are indeed tied to the army you were accused of a crime with evidence by the Valkyrie clan. This gives us grounds to initiate a trial. As Lyra is a clan head huntress as well as S rank she is considered a three star general by the legal status of the Mistralian army. She is capable of acting as a prosecutor of a trial though not capable of initiating one on such charges as these." Freya explained smugly. So it was like a legal loophole basically. "Now… what were you doing in the Eastern islands?"

Dexter shrugged. "Laura is a friend of mine. I was willing to follow her anywhere. I made friends with the squad she was assigned and found myself staying with them because there was no reason not to. I was saving lives and only ever fought grimm, villagers turned to banditry, or the occasional deserters. I never directly killed any Mistralian soldiers."

"So… you stuck around the eastern islands because you were helping the huntsman forces of vale?" Freya clarified.

"No." Dexter said clearly. "I was helping my friend and later, friends. I don't believe I have any affiliation with the Valean forces other than my association with Laura."

"And what is your association with Laura Frost, Dexter White?" Freya asked seriously with piercing eyes.

"Realistically? We're close friends. On paper, however, Laura vouched for me as her husband. I had no say in this and was promised answers after the upcoming clash of armies."

Lyra spoke up with slightly annoyed eyes. Yeah the legal/realistic gap was annoying to him too."There is no romantic relationship between you and Laura Frost?"

"There is no current romantic relationship between us. However, Laura has been attempting to initiate a romantic relationship for… It's rather hard to tell when she desired for our friendship to become something more. Sometime two years ago is when I believe she started but she has become more aggressive in the past year." Dexter realized he had been frowning the entire time he spoke about Laura. Their relationship wasn't that bad, was it? … The time away from her after she had kissed him had been rather nice. He should probably confront her directly after this was over. Her games had gone on long enough.

Lyra leaned back into her chair. "Well… Assuming everything you're saying is true I suppose we can't actually call you a spy. You've given us no reason to distrust you so far. You were only looking out for your friend, after all. The suspicion of being a spy is, honestly, pretty shaky. I believe you on the pendant. You weren't actually that close to the camp when I found you, after all. You've been perfectly amicable so far as well. As far as I can tell you just made a doll in my room and… wait did you look through any of my stuff?" Lyra frowned at him.

"I looked through the schematics for the grimm you drew up. I also read the first and last entries of the location journal. I wanted to know why you were so interested in me. It was a report on me, after all. Can you blame me?"

"No. I really can't." Lyra said with a wry smile. Then she looked thoughtful. "Actually there is a way for Dexter to clear his name with us."

"Actually, dear, we should discuss this outside." Freya interjected. Lyra looked at her curiously but hummed unconcernedly before standing up and walking out the door. Freya soon followed with Destin in tow.

Dexter looked to the door for a moment. He shrugged and wondered what to do… Perhaps he should just do nothing… yes. He'll just do that for now.

|-\\\/-|

Lyra's POV

Lyra finally released her smile at full blast as soon as she left the interrogation room. A small sigh escaped her as soon as she did so. Keeping her face normal like that wasn't really hard. After enough practice there really wasn't much strain in it. It was still irritating to do so. It made her feel like she was lying with her face. An unpleasant feeling.

"Heh. You young ones." Her grandma said amusedly. "You have such a hard time keeping yourselves contained. You'll lose that energy when you hit sixty." Lyra rolled her eyes. She'll lose her energy when she got older, sure, but she doubted she'd ever lose her smile. It was always hard not to smile. She couldn't imagine keeping a face stoic all the time like Dexter or even just keeping her smiles small like Freya or some of the other elders.

Then again… Dexter's face being stoic made his smiles far more valuable. She felt nice when she made him smile. She liked his smile. It's like he was laughing at something more than what you meant. Lyra liked that. It meant to her that there was even more to smile at than just what you said. He also smiled with his eyes a lot. They were far more expressive than he thought. Maybe that was just her.

"So what did you want to talk about? I thought we were of a similar opinion in that Dexter is innocent for now. I didn't see anything too wrong with what he was saying. I'm not about the whole pendant in the woods thing but whatever the reason he was there he was right that he didn't intend to be here. That he respected my privacy for the most part while alone in my room is pretty telling as well. He seems like a good person."

Freya nodded. "I think he's a good person as well. I do believe he's lying about the pendant in the forest but I doubt that he meant anything malicious. I believe him on the matter of his relationships as well. I don't believe him to be aligned with Vale. Certainly not Vacuo. The matter of his friends is concerning but I can respect his loyalties for his friends, though I should like to see if we can find out more about them." Lyra continue smiling and nodded.

"There is the matter of how to deal with him, though." Freya said warningly. "I doubt we can simply let him go. While he seems like a good person to us letting him go might raise questions not only among our clan but if he is noticed by any of the other clans or the army our loyalty may be questioned. They are less forgiving, after all." Lyra didn't respond. She knew all of this, of course. She knew Freya could see it in her eyes. She was wise like that. She was just thinking out loud. All the old people seem to do that.

"There's actually a few ways we can go about this." Grandma continued, as expected. "The first is the obvious one. We keep him here for a while and keep an eye on him. Given time we'll discover if he's honest or not. If we like him we could declare him a freelancer and friend to our clan publically. It's rather boring. A bit of a missed opportunity, though." Lyra's smile fell a little. She liked Dexter so far. She'd prefer to maintain some sort of contact with him. Declaring him a friend would likely mean he'd move on. That just didn't settle well in Lyra's mind.

"The second option is one I believe you suggested yourself. Establish a trade deal with his dolls and offer a cut of the profits, yes?" Lyra grinned. She had thought of that. Dexter's dolls were a case of low supply and high demand. Now that she knew that he could create the simpler dolls in less than a minute and the far more complex ones in less than half an hour (she hadn't been gone from him for more than twenty minutes. She was sure of it) Dexter was a goldmine for anyone with an eye for profit. She was certain that if she released him the next person with some money and influence would be able to monetize him. She knew that with her rather mediocre business sense. She was sure that her more profit minded advisors would be foaming at the mouth to get to him. Not to mention any other ideas Dexter might have. She rather doubted it though. He seemed to view his doll making as more of a hobby.

He didn't even need to make that many dolls to make it a job. Maybe a hundred average ones a day and he'd be golden. He could just make the skeleton's if he was feeling lazy. Lyra doubted he would do that though. He has pride in his work.

"The third one is one I considered but I don't much like it." Her grandma started again. "He said himself that the hunters accompanied him. Not the other way around." Lyra's eyes widened. Yes. He had said it that way. It almost sounds like- "He knows how to fight." Grandma smirked. "We'd have to test him and we might be wrong but I doubt it. Do you recall the forms he mentioned? What they might be used for?" Lyra had noticed that. Grimm were creatures of violence. Discarding the nevermoore and domestic animals Dexter had quite a set of creatures for combat. He had mentioned weapons as well. Lyra had considered that he used them for selling but had found it more likely that he knew how to use them. What was her grandma leading to?

"You haven't caught on yet, have you?" Her grandma said smugly. "I'm talking about hiring him. He's not affiliated with anybody. We could hire him with the offer of clan benefits, shielding from the war, and in exchange he takes a few apprentices in his craft and sells some of his dolls to us. Well it doesn't really matter. This is more of a plan B to the second idea."

"You haven't said the plan that you like yet, grandmother." Lyra pointed out. Her grandmother sometimes did things like this where she expected Lyra to prove she was paying attention.

She laughed a little. "I wasn't even hiding that one sweetie. Anyways, the fourth option is obviously the one I like the best. What do you think of Dexter personally?"

Lyra narrowed her eyes. Grandmother was up to something. Something sly. She had that little look in her eye. "Well…" she said carefully. "He's a very nice man." Grandmother nodded encouragingly. "I quite like his personality as well. He seems to value honesty but resort to cunning when necessary. I can respect that. His loyalty he expressed seemed genuine as well. Not to mention his skill with crafts. I plan on asking him if he is skilled in combat as well when we go back in. I think besides that I just need to clarify his allegiance and we'll be ready to apply a verdict."

Freya laughed ominously. Lyra decided that she was better off asking. "What's your plan? I'm going to hate it I know but I think I'm better off asking here."

"Dexter is a fantastic opportunity for an ally. He's talented. A rising star if he cares to be. I do believe that his semblance alone offers much to us. He is even a competent diplomat. He said nothing we can prove wrong, if caught that. He might even be wealthy from all of the trading of his dolls he has done. If he is, as we suspect, a good fighter, then he would be an exceptional ally. While he would be a strong economic partner that may be a waste of a good ally. It is far more beneficial to establish something more long lasting that would benefit both of us. I noticed that while Dexter does not hold any allegiance towards anybody he doesn't hold any strong allies either."

"Get to the point grandmother." Lyra said impatiently. All this alluding towards something she was sure was blindingly obvious to her grandmother was annoying. As soon as she was finished with this business she was going to go out and get her energy out. Preferably with pancakes. In fact, it might be nice to share some with Dexter. She never did get to give him her special pancakes.

"The clan's been pressuring you to be married soon. We need an heir, after all." Lyra's mind went to reboot. "Dexter is actually far better than any other suitors we have in that any trade between us would be entirely beneficial. We quite literally can't go wrong with him unless he goes to someone else. That Laura girl, for example. That just means you have to move fast, though. Being betrothed to him would offer much. Also, you obviously like him though I hope you don't jump the gun, as the kids say. I think grandchildren between you two would be adorable! In fact let's just not tell him the other options." Some of the Valkyrie mirth™ escaped her in a grin and a glint in her eyes. Lyra's brain finally rebooted.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter's POV

"WHAAAAAATT?!" Dexter snapped out of his almost meditative state at the cry that rang throughout the basement. It probably escaped to the upper floors as well considering the volume.

 **AN: Dexter's just trying to wander around, play with his power, and be chill but life just keeps throwing curveballs. Making him a maiden's best friend, tossing him into a war (partially his choice), engaging hm to his best friend against his will behind his back and now he's got a possible bethrowal to the most hyperactive woman in existence because he had a moment of artistic inspiration. At least Lyra is really cool with him breaking into her room. That could have gone way worse really. In fact Dexter normally gets in trouble because of other people. This is the first time he really screwed up and started paying the price for it, and let's admit it, he REALLY screwed up here. Not only is he completely eligible for intent to sabotage on the Mistralian/Mantlian side but he's got grounds for accusal for fraternization with the enemy on the Valean side. Poor Dexter. He can be callous sometimes (he's a grimm at heart) but I don't know if he deserves to be trapped between two extremely powerful and eccentric super huntresses. Laura is more of a crazy that only pops up with certain stimui. Like flying on a nevermore? Hell yeah she's going to play at being a demigoddess. Lyra is more of a crazy that stays active unless given certain stimuli. Like a trial, a battle, or some other serious situation that require a calm mind. It's kind of admirable that she be calm at all. If you think about it I kind of gave the entire Valkyrie clan ADHD.**


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: I'm pretty sure I can get another chapter out tomorrow but don't count on it. I have some life stuff still happening.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 24**

 **The compromise**

Lyra walked into the room red faced and avoiding eye contact. Dexter looked to her curiously. What had set her off so much as to make her yell that loudly and be embarrassed? A look towards Freya showed her smirking at Dexter like a cat that caught the canary. A chill went down Dexter's spine. This didn't bode well for him.

"Um, so…" Lyra started them off again awkwardly. "We have a sort of compromise - a mutual deal of sorts - but we have a few questions for you first. Not as invasive as the other ones." At this point Lyra seemed to have collected herself somewhat and stopped avoiding eye contact. Dexter was glad for this since Lyra acting shy like that was so different from the other attitudes she had shown so far that is was almost eerie. Also, a mutual deal? He would remember that. If they could both come out of this better off then he was willing to compromise. Especially since he had failed in his infiltration. Laura would be pissed… oh dear. "So we need your combat rank and to know roughly how wealthy you are."

Dexter wasn't very surprised at the first one but the second question seemed out of place. What did wealth matter right now? He supposed it was a matter of status. "Well my combat rank is an B but I barely made it." Dexter lied. Underestimating him was good. Look away. He was not interesting at all. Lyra's eyes still widened slightly. Freya's eyes glinted with some unknown idea. Damn it… "I don't remember the specifics. Aura was an A-, though. I mostly use aura techniques in combat. I'd prefer not to go into this any further." Freya nodded in understanding while Lyra seemed a little confused at Dexter's refusal to kiss and tell. She probably wasn't a very subtle person. Dexter was so surprised…

"As for wealth…" Dexter tried hard to remember. He had been selling his dolls for a while. Rather than money, though, he sold his dolls for dust. There was also some gold. He had wanted to store money for the long term and he needed a stable currency. It was all properly stored and everything in his bunker.

Dexter didn't actually make much from his dolls. Most of his money was from looting bandit camps for money, dust, and some jewelry and then his money for all the dust or precious metals he could get. Jewelry was a common option for sustained wealth. There had been plenty of refugees willing to sell family heirlooms for a chance to get money to bribe someone or hire guards to ge out of the eastern islands. The price of the heirlooms and jewelry might increase over time as well. If not he could just melt them down somewhere. Gold and silver were at a low point as well with the kingdoms dipping into their war funds, which were stored as gold for Vale and silver for Mistral.

Dust was harder to come by and at a higher price than normal due to a wartime economy. However, there were plenty of deserters and bandits around that were stockpiling dust for one reason or another. Dexter and his team were happy to ste- ah, um, _commandeer_ the dust from the looters. Dexter normally got a third of the dust since he transported it and Laura didn't care about it.

Dexter had bought rare dust from the few people selling but he had plenty of common dust hidden in the bunker. Well hidden and trapped behind a few corridors of traps by Laura. Rella had pitched in with a golem that she bound to an object. That binding technique needed a whole crate's worth of dust to make since it wasn't powered by her though. The permanent golem technique was just plain inefficient in most situations. Yeah, nobody was getting in there except Dexter or Laura and she didn't are about the dust or weath. Whatever she wanted she could get from the king or acquire herself.

Over the years Dexter had, by his last check, had eighty crates in total of low grade dust (Mancer, Joan, and Rella took some for their weapons) in powdered and crystal form, thirty crates of high grade and rare dust like gravity, light, darkness, nature, true crystal, life, steel, and some others. That was about five times the size of a minor clan's whole stockpile. A whole clan which consisted of at least twenty people.

Dexter didn't even bother counting the gold. He just judged by the size of the pile. He had enough to longe on somewhat comfortably as a beowolf in jewelry and a quarter of a crate worth of gold bars. He really hadn't been able to find many gold bars. There were some silver bars too. Mistral had most of Remnant's silver mines, though, so he didn't get silver too often.

There were some trinkets he had taken as well. There was a katana that could store dust in the pommel and release it through the blade for a few different effects depending on the type. There were plenty of other advanced weapons from huntsmen that deserted. Someone had made a suit of armor that could compress like Crocea Mors. Joan didn't care for it and it worked well so Dexter squirreled it away. There were more miscellaneous items as well. A crate of dust someone collected from grimm corpses, a kind thank you letter from a young girl to Dexter after saving her town, a new invention that made motion from electrical dust people were calling a motor, a giant goliath plushie Dexter had made.

There were, locked away, some stranger things as well. A red cloth that let you see objects while in motion more clearly, a white cloak with a silver clasp that gave off an unnatural aura of kindness and trust, a backpack that was twice as big on the inside as the outside, a red cloak like the white one that made you move a little faster, a solid black mask that you could see out of despite having no eye holes, a tattered red cape that let you control and feel your aura better, a slanted cross made of white crystal that seemed to grant good luck, and some others.

Dexter was personally hoping to keep the objects locked away unless he needed them gravely. He was wary of even giving the objects to his mother. Using objects you couldn't understand meant that you couldn't trust them. Whether that was wealth was questionable though.

Whether the trinkets were wealth or not... Dexter was absolutely filthy rich. He just didn't really care much about it. He had nothing to do with his wealth after all. Could you really be called wealthy when you had nothing to spend your massive hoard of gold and jewels on?

"I hold my assets hidden away in hidden cave underground that's surrounded by grimm and protected by deadly traps. There's also a basilisk." Lyra rolled her eyes. Freya looked vaguely amused. "I have about eighty crates of low grade dust, thirty of high grade or rare dust, and more gold than I care to count."

Lyra paused. "You're not pulling our leg here, right?" Dexter shook his head. It wasn't THAT much dust.

"How did you get that much dust then?" Freya asked.

"I raided bandit camps for their wealth and took as much as I could carry each time. It wasn't hard since I can change forms. I traded whatever lien I could find for jewelry and heirlooms from the refugees I would find. I also made a small amount from my dolls that I traded with the other money." Lyra and Freya processed this for a moment.

"A-and how big are the crates?" Lyra asked faintly. Dexter thought for a moment and shrugged. He had already told them most things already. He was innocent for the most part.

"About the size of a beowolf's torso. Maybe two cubic feet each? The majority anyways. Some are bigger or smaller. They're pretty big."

"Lyra…" Freya said with some awe. "This is the one." Lyra tried to speak but nothing came out. Dexter frowned. The one? For what? What did riches have to do with anything?! He just wanted to leave damnit!

"I-I'm testing his combat abilities first." Lyra insisted.

Freya shook her head. "Eighty boxes… Dexter how long did it take you to acquire so much dust?"

"A little less than four years. I was able to take all of the loot from deserters, bandits, or fallen towns since I can just transform to something bigger than myself. I took as much dust as I could from my total share but my friends needed dust too so I had to take lien sometimes too instead of more dust. The same with the precious metals. I could probably have gotten more if I went out of my way. I just don't have any use for it all."

"Don't have a use for gold he says." Freya said with some bitterness. Dexter knew it wasn't at him though. Really he collected the gold just for the hell of it. It was nearly useless but in the future having a stash would be nice to fall back on.

"Well… we're all done here. With such claims on your combat abilities we need to test you though." Dexter internally swore. He'll have to fight at a lower level than normal and use more aura abilities than before.

"Oh don't lie girl. It's unbecoming." Freya scolded. Lyra scowled. "Just say you want to fight him." Dexter very nearly scary glared at Lyra but held himself back at the last second to a very heated normal glare. Lyra still flinched though. "Though I admit that I want to see you fight. Don't worry about winning. Lyra's S class. Not many can best her." Lyra looked bashful at the complement.

"Well come on then." Freya led the way out with Dexter and Lyra following her. After a brief moment of silence Dexter started them off in another conversation.

"So I was wondering… I thought Mistral enslaved faunus? Why am I being treated differently?"

Freya decided to answer that. "Is that what they say about us in Vale? Well no. We do not enslave faunus. Sure, faunus are second class citizens but citizens still. They mostly live in ghettos outside the city or in villages of their own. Those who can't pay the… 'faunus tax' are recruited as indentured servants, which in Mistral are basically slaves, to work in the dust mines, collect lumber, or work as farmhands for the lucky ones. The mines are the minority but they still exist.

"Only Mantle practices outright slavery. Their insistence that others do the same is rather idiotic actually. They can get away with it because of the constant hard snows in the north. It makes some grimm slow down in the snow. There are some who can work well in it but not enough to prove to be a huge problem. Huntsmen can simply dig in and defend against them while the slaves work. In Mantle they primarily work in construction. Do you know how hard it is to build things in snow? It's not easy."

"The faunus can't rebel?"

"Sure they can. They can walk away anytime they please. Right into the frozen tundra, blizzards, grimm, and biting cold. There's just nowhere better than Mantle for them. There's supposedly a few nomadic groups of polar faunus that were able to survive and hunt caribou and fish and such but that's just a rumor."

Dexter thought about that for a moment. Mistral was unfair but the faunus can walk away if they're quick enough, Mantle was plain terrible, Vale was cruel under the reign of just society and grimm in general but survivable, and Vacuo was equally terrible for everybody… he really had it lucky compared to other faunus. Well, he wasn't really a faunus but… meh. He had transformed his ears down a few times for the convenience. He couldn't change his eyes though. He had passed for human a few times when he had to or everybody was racist and he was sick of being annoyed.

"What about the self suppression? People in Vale are convinced that you want them to not so much as color a rock. Is there a misunderstanding there?" A complicated expression crossed Freya's face.

"It's… not quite that simple. See, people aren't stupid. People like pretty things. What people do not like being reminded of is how terrible the world is. Depressing or, as some people call it, realistic, art is just about as banned as it can be without not talking about it. Bright colors are encouraged because they're happy and nice. Dull colors are only used for clothing and common things like that. So while art is perfectly allowed we aren't allowed to draw, write, sing, or otherwise express sad things. The sad things draw the grimm so we don't do sad things."

"That philosophy is actually why we're on the Mistralian side. Slavery we're against but the expression? I do believe the world would be a better place without the sad things being shown. Why shouldn't we focus on the good things in life? And the thing is… it works. In places where negative art was removed and happy art was added instead grimm attacks decreased. People were happier. Some people don't like it but in the end it works. Maybe it's not the truth but perhaps we could all learn to love lies. Is there any difference between a lie you love and a truth that you love? What should it matter when it comes to happiness? We still hold some of the darker art at the capital though. Forgetting reality is a bad thing. Again, we're not stupid."

That argument… Dexter had never thought of it that way. He hadn't looked to the mistralian side of the fence before but the more he looked at it the more he liked it. Laura was sort of happier even though the him she saw and probably loved was a lie. Ugh. How complicated.

Dexter pushed Laura out of his mind and thought of what else to ask. He had known the world wasn't black and white but he hadn't quite… understood. This different outlook was valuable. Already Dexter knew he had a lot to think about.

"How do the clans fit into this?"

Freya smiled. "Ahh, that's a good question. A Vague one but a good one nonetheless. The clans are somewhat like the nobility of Vale." Dexter's eyes widened. That was so… foreign. In Vale the clans were given money and expected to raise warriors and keep their advantages like familial semblance patterns (Semblances tended to be similar across generations. A fire semblance user would have a son with a fire based semblance more often than not, for example) and secret styles and whatnot for the kingdom's use. They had political pull but no say in the running of the kingdom. The nobles managed the citizens. Sometimes badly.

"You manage the citizens for the king?!" Dexter asked incredulously.

Freya chuckled. "Not quite. Mistral has higher and lower nobility like Vale but our definitions are a little different. All nobles are born as lower nobility. When a position befitting a high noble - that means being in the king's court, managing nobles, and keeping the clans straight - comes open, the clanheads and noble house heads convene and determine who takes the position of high noble. We do this because we clan hunters are extremely in tune with the common people unlike the hunters of Vale. They respect us, admire us, and provide food and goods. We protect them from grimm and bandits. Anyways, we determine who manages the nobles and us. It's a rather large privilege, having a say in who manages us."

"It sounds… somewhat too good to be true." Dexter said skeptically.

"Hah! It's far from perfect! The standing army is weak because we hunters take care of all the problems. The taxes are sometimes mismanaged because a lower noble got lazy or was incompetent. They're granted the position by blood, after all. We clans are overworked because we have to take care of protection, politics, and managing ourselves. The king has too little responsibilities because the high nobles are very good at their job. Then there's the issues that crop up in any system. Documents lost. Taxes gone unpaid. Upstart lower nobles looking to make a name for themselves screwing up something big and the high nobles have to get involved from their usual schedule. Believe me, it's not a bad system but it's nowhere near perfect. Most everyone gets say, sure, but that doesn't mean it's an efficient way of doing things. It's a government Dexter. It screws up and it screws up often."

Dexter smiled slightly at the older woman's amusement and stayed quiet for the brief remainder of the walk. She was right. It wasn't perfect. It was a government. That didn't mean it was wrong either. The ideologies weren't perfect but they were the collective opinions of a group of people. Of course they don't apply to everyone. Some people are bound to disagree. That he did was normal.

"Aaaand here we are!" Lyra excitedly showed. Dexter blinked and looked around. It was a large dirt field. Likely there had been grass here once but it had long been stomped out. Now the field was dirt and divided into lots by iron poles protruding from the ground with rope strung between holes bored through them.

"Hart!" Lyra yelled.

Hart, a guy off to the side of a field in leather armor, looked to Lyra with a slightly pale face. Then he looked to Dexter and gave him a pitying look. "Yes Lyra?" he asked in a baritone voice

"I need four fields opened for me and Dexter here."

"Got it. Excuse me… SEAN GET OFF! LYRA NEEDS THAT FIELD!" A weedy looking man with a blunted shortsword looked startled at Hart's voice but when he registered the words he ran off of the field quickly.

"There you are Lyra. Everyone's busy right now so could you adjust the markers yourself? Sean's going to want someone to spar with to make up for being driven out." Lyra smiled energetically and nodded. Hart smiled back briefly before rushing off. Dexter wondered if he was really going to spar with that Sean fellow or if he was going to run and watch from a safe distance as Lyra made a disaster area. Dexter got his answer as the fields surrounding Lyra and his were vacated quickly. Normally under the hurried pretense of a water break or something. Really who were they trying to fool?

"So!" Lyra said with a wide grin. That was a sadist's grin, Dexter knew. Laura had worn it sometimes. Normally Dexter was behind her as she gave it to someone else. It was a novel experience to be on the receiving end. Especially from somebody other than Laura.

"We need to test your speed, strength, and yadda yadda yadda. I'll be testing you by seeing how long and well you can withstand getting your ass kicked." Dexter narrowed his eyes. Come to think of it did he really need to pretend to lose? After all, the more the Valkyries valued him the more they sought a mutual alliance, which was good for Dexter. Right? If things got nasty he could fly, hide, run, or even fight if he had to.

"You know, I'll just say it here and now. If I win and wear you out your ears are getting petted. They were so soft when you were a kitten!" Dexter's eyes narrowed and his ears instinctively flattened against his head.

Like hell she was petting his ears! Not even Laura was allowed to pet his ears! She had only ever done so twice. Once when he wasn't paying attention and she had snuck up on him and petted his ears. She had been tossed into a pile of bear crap and suspended by a tree above a pack of beowolves. Her shoes had dropped off of her feet and torn apart as a pleasant side effect. She had walked away fine but her feet were aching and sore when they arrived at a roadside inn later that day. Dexter had made her moccasins as a gift of pity.

She had at least gotten the message. The second time she accidentally touched his ears in training she immediately stopped the spar and apologised profusely. Dexter had forgiven her since it was an accident. He wasn't unfair after all.

"You will do no such thing." Dexter said with calmness surpassing what he normally projected.

Lyra apparently caught onto that something was wrong so she stared at Dexter suspiciously. Then her face lit up in realization. "Oh right!" she turned to the crowd that had silently formed throughout her trash talk. "Dexter can change forms so don't be alarmed if he looks like a grimm for a while. He's totally in control."

Dexter nodded and transformed into a boarbatusk. Without it's usual mask of course. A few people gasped. Most just looked surprised. He supposed that compared to making a storm in seconds his semblance was far less imposing or powerful seeming. People seemed to be alright with his semblance after Dexter transformed back into a faunus.

"Fighters!" Freya called out from the sidelines. "First to forfeit or have broken aura. As the king views… are you ready?!"

"Ready!" Lyra called. Dexter quirked an eyebrow. Was this odd count off a Mistralian thing? Normally when he sparred they usually started by unspoken agreement. Whoever moved aggressively first started it. Ah well.

"Ready." He called out.

"Then by the command of the king… Start!" Freya's hand came down and slapped her thigh at the 'start' call. At the sound Lyra charged to meet Dexter. He decided to change forms. It was better to not show his whole hand yet. He would save his weapon skills if he could.

Dexter chose to transform into an ursa first. He applied some thick bone plates for protection from Lyra's greataxe and watched her closely. Lyra continued her charge easily. She leapt when she got close and swung diagonally with no apparent technique involved. Dexter leaned back and saw the axe carry it's momentum and come to rest on Lyra's left shoulder. Seeing her wide open Dexter tested a swipe at Lyra from her right side. Where the axe wasn't.

Lyra smirked in amusement and twisted the handle of her greataxe. She pulled out what looked like a baton for a moment before some fancy machinery shifted around. The handle moved upwards and the hidden weapon looked to become a mace with the hilt of her greataxe as a mace. Sneaky.

Dexter saw the mace coming for his paw. Blunt damage would hurt. Armor wasn't very useful against it. He called aura to his maw and roared mightily. Lyra's eyes widened a bit and she was blown back like a ragdoll. Somewhere along the way she inserted her mace back into her greataxe and planted the axe blade into the ground. She quickly slowed to a stop and stared at Dexter with a smirk. She hadn't wasted aura and he had. It wasn't more than three percent but it was something. In his opinion it was worth it since he now knew how to deal with her open spots unless she had another trick up her sleeve… or her axe.

Dexter shifted quickly to a large alpha beowolf. Lyra was about half the size of his torso. At her full height she came up to roughly his chin when he stood on two legs like this. She appeared curious of his large size. Far larger than most alpha beowolves.

Dexter took the initiative this time. He rushed forward to see how she would defend herself. She was clearly playing with him but that didn't mean he couldn't learn her defenses and attacks before he crushed her. Lyra walked forward cockily as he ran to her.

Dexter met her by falling down onto his stomach. She evidently hadn't expected this judging by the "Huh?!" she yelped from the giant beowolf sliding towards her on it's stomach. She actually paused in the strike she had been preparing. It was clearly going to be faster than before.

Dexter swiped out and hooked a claw around Lyra's ankle. He yanked and Lyra managed to retain her balance on one leg with her greataxe on her now unsupported shoulder. Dexter had to admit, for a strength oriented fighter Lyra had some tricks. Even if she was being cocky.

Dexter batted a paw towards Lyra's side. She couldn't dodge due to having one leg and she couldn't parry not just because of her bad balance but Dexter had a clear advantage in mass. Lyra was pushed onto the ground where Dexter had an aura beam primed and ready. With reflexes Lyra really shouldn't have she rolled out of the way a bit. Dexter adjusted but he only hit her elbow. Lyra was thrown away from the blast with a gasp. She managed to land on her feet a little wobbly. Dexter considered it to be a small bit of shock due to the concussive force of the blast.

Lyra's eyes grew more intelligent an serious and her entire stance changed. Her left hand gripped the neck of her greataxe's shaft and she bent her knees slightly. Finally she was taking this seriously. It wasn't like Dexter was acting close to his combat rank before though. That little trick had apparently tipped his hand a bit though.

Dexter knew his time was up as a grimm. Grimm were too unwieldy to be tricky with on a constant basis. They could use some aura techniques that were tricky but they were too limited for the moment. Against other grimm they worked well but for a smaller and stronger opponent like Lyra size wasn't going to matter. Dexter changed to his faunus form quickly and formed a throwing dagger and a conventional dagger inside his cloak. He figured they'd be of use. Actually, they'll definitely be of use. He formed another dagger just in case.

Lyra rushed forwards in a burst of speed that hadn't been present before. Dexter placed his right foot forward. When Lyra came close enough he feigned as if to dodge backwards. Lyra didn't fall for it, unfortunately. She pulled back and sent a straight kick to Dexter. He sidestepped neatly and slashed quickly. Lyra spun on her planted foot and swung her axe mightily.

Dexter smiled as her back was turned and stepped back as he threw his throwing dagger. His other hand with his sabre hissed through the air as it formed an aura slash.

When Lyra finished her rotation she was met with a throwing dagger hurtling to her face and an aura slash coming to her abdomen. She whipped her head to the side but the dagger still sliced her cheek thinly. They were made sharp after all. The slash was trickier. She slowed down her swing with her axe a bit and the head of her axe collided with the aura slash midair. Her axe went straight through it easily. It was infused with aura throughout the whole fight, after all, as all hunter weapons were. The slash was just very very sharp. It didn't have any concussive force like other techniques.

Dexter had sent three more throwing daggers to Lyra as the swing completed. Lyra blocked them with the head of her axe easily. She simply twirled the axe like a staff and moved her hand near the neck as needed. It was really quite the defense for a weapon.

Dexter decided to press his small initiative and used a small aura blast on the sole of his foot to fly towards Lyra. She didn't seem overly surprised by his speed. Maybe she was just getting used to being surprised. It didn't matter either way.

Dexter slammed his blade on Lyra's axa as hard as he could. The blade shattered under the stress and small shards of bone went flying into Lyra's face. Most importantly, though, a few shards went into her eyes. Small shards, sure, but they sure got her attention. Lyra yelled and blinked rapidly. She would have backed off too if Dextter hadn't grabbed the collar of her shirt. He savagely stabbed at her. Two thrusts into her stomach and Lyra had enough and headbutted his face. It briefly stunned Dexter and she used the lull in the stabs to grad Dexter's shoulders, jump off the ground, and kick Dexter's chest as hard as she could. Dexter clenched his feet as he glanced at her feet. They were filled to the brim with aura. Uh oh.

As Lyra's feet slammed into his chest the aura discharged in a blast - what do you know! Lyra knew the aura blast technique. Great. - and Dexter's chest caved in. The thick bone plate he kept between his hide shirt splintered under the blast and shattered. He went flying back and tumbled over the ground for a moment. In a few seconds he stood up as his chest rapidly expanded and fixed itself with some sickening cracks. The bone chestplate reformed as well. A glance at the ground showed some blood splattered on the ground. Dexter supposed he didn't really mind. He didn't use the blood at all, being a grimm and all.

That glance at the ground also brought Dexter's attention to the piece of cloth in his hand. Hadn't Lyra been wearing yellow? Ah right. He had been holding onto her by her yellow tank top. Come to think of it that might have sent the wrong message. Dexter looked up and saw Lyra blushing furiously and hiding her chest in her arms. Her bra had flown off in the blast it seemed. Oh look it's over there on the ground.

"Well that got a little heated." Freya said off to the side. She was looking with a strange smile at Lyra. "But we should probably go inside now. Dexter, could you get Lyra's bra and axe please?" Dexter didn't respond. He instead walked to Lyra. Silently he took off his cloak and tossed it to her. She accepted it gratefully and hid herself in it. Dexter tossed two clasps made of bone to her and she pinned it lower to fully hide her breasts. She turned and glared at her clansmen while Dexter grabbed her axe and bra. What a weird day it's been. From being cat-napped in a less sleep-related sort of way to picking up his kidnapper's bra in front of a crowd of people.

"Show's over now! Scram!" Lyra barked to the Valkyries. Her tone clearly expressed her irritation at being nearly exposed in front of most of her clan. They broke out of the trance the fight had brought to them and dispersed.

|-\\\/-|

Freya waved them inside and they walked in silence. They didn't go back to the interrogation room this time. Freya was about to but Lyra grabbed her hand and continued to lead her. A minute later they arrived at Lyra's bedroom.

Lyra immediately went to her dresser and pulled out a bra and a blue shirt. She went into the bathroom and presumably changed. Dexter went to a chair and… hm? Dexter stopped and sniffed the air. Was that… Another sniff confirmed it. Had Lyra gotten a change in panties as well? He hoped so. He wondered whether it was the fight or the exposure… actually it was probably the fight. She had seemed genuinely irritated at the crowd. That glare had been genuine as well.

Another minute passed in silence. Freya scowled at Dexter and he looked as nonchalant as he could. It was a small while before Lyra came out. Maybe ten minutes in all. She probably needed to go to the bathroom as well. That was what Dexter told himself. He politely turned away from the bathroom door when his ears heard some sounds he did not need to hear.

Lyra came out only mildly flushed. "What took you so long?" Freya asked.

"I wanted to get the sweat off of me." Lyra lied. She had washed her face, sure, but the rest of her was slightly sweatier than before. At least she had changed her clothes. They slightly masked _that_ scent. Even Laura wasn't that shameless about Dexter's enhanced smell. Or maybe Lyra didn't realize Dexter could smell that. She didn't seem that shameless so he assumed that was the case.

"Now then…" Lyra turned to Dexter with a frown. "Why did you say you were B rank? You're clearly S rank. High A at the least and even then you're toeing the line." Lyra scowled at him. Dexter forced a smirk.

"I rely on trickery to win. You didn't take me seriously at first so I was able to get a glimpse of your capabilities." Dexter lied smoothly.

"Don't lie." Freya said plainly. Dexter scowled. "Why did you lie? And the truth please." Dexter rolled his eyes.

"I really did want you to underestimate me. I just wanted my combat capabilities unclear in case I got into an altercation with Mistral. It's never good to have someone know all of what you can do." That really was the truth and Freya could tell. Her face lightened slightly.

"Anything else you want to come clean with?" Freya asked tiredly. Dexter shook his head. That he had come in on purpose and had gotten horribly terribly unlucky? That he had intended to sabotage the camp? Not a chance in hell. He'd take that to the grave.

"... He's still eligible." Freya said. "Besides, are you really mad at him?" She looked to Lyra who shook her head.

"I'm annoyed at the lie but it makes sense that he did so. I probably would have done the same. Actually come to think of it I lied about my capabilities a few times."

"Well you're definitely in line for the offer then." Freya said. She looked seriously to Dexter. "There are three ways we can go about this. First-" Freya held up one finger. "We hold you here for a while and you earn some trust and leave. By a while I mean like a month or four. You'd also likely be fighting with us on the lines against Vale and Vacuo." Dexter didn't like that option any more than Freya did. It tricked friends to think he was a traitor and Vale would consider him a threat. There was no way he wouldn't be put into the spotlight with his abilities and he couldn't hide them with the clan having seen a good deal of them.

"Second." The second finger was raised. "You establish a sort of trade deal with us. You supply us with dolls and we gain a monopoly on them. You get a cut and we do too. Business. I was going for this option but having seen you in combat and now knowing you're wealthy to say the least I don't think we can even do this one anymore. You don't need to give us dolls and you don't need the money. So this is off the table now unless you give us a damn good reason to trust you." Dexter frowned but nodded. He wouldn't have cared for the money. He would have tried to supply them with dolls but they didn't know that. Mistral having more people like the Valkyries in influence would be nothing but a good thing. Him having influence over them in turn would also be a good thing. Well, for him.

"And finally, the certainly best option for everyone…" The third finger went up. "The Valkyrie clan has Lyra at it's head. She's the best Valkyrie born in dozens of years and she's still in her prime. She's strong, beautiful, has a fantastic personality, has a whole clan to offer, and is in the prime of her life."

Dexter wasn't liking where this was going. If it was going there… but no. It wasn't. He was being paranoid. Lyra wasn't Laura. She just wasn't. He was drawing conclusions too fast. But Lyra was staring at Dexter rather intently and blushing somewhat. She was probably hot. In a temperature way. Definitely that.

"However, there is a problem." Freya continued. "Lyra has few men truly worthy of her." Fuck. "We needed someone who had assets to offer," Oh no… "Strength to satisfy her and us, being a hunter clan a man would need it," Nonononono, "and most importantly to have caught her attention." Lyra's blush intensified somewhat. Dexter yelled internally in frustration. Was he being asked on a date for political reasons by his kidnapper?! So he finally beat Laura in the crazy scale today… Wait she made that boarbatusk fly one time. He was safe.

"Now, you've been slightly dishonest. Looking for a pendant in the forest? Or was it a brooch? Hm, it doesn't matter. We don't much care why you were there in the first place. You seem like a good person at heart and anybody could tell from your tone that you don't give even a thought to Vale. If you don't care about Mistral either that would be fine. You wouldn't be obliged to fight though Mistral might try to make you if they get somewhat desperate. Anyways, I'm pretty sure you've gotten the point 's already on board with it. She's never had a crush before, you know… now… will you honor the clan of Valkyrie and accept Lyra Valkyrie's hand in marriage?"

Dexter frowned harshly and didn't respond for a moment. "Dexter…" Lyra spoke softly. He turned his head to Lyra. She was looking at him with some fear. "I'm… alright with it. You're a good person, I can tell. I don't love you, of course. We've only known each other for a day but I do feel something for you. I do think I would like to spend the rest of my life with you if they're like today. I know you have your friends and I can respect that. But I know what you're thinking."

Lyra had Dexter's full attention now. Her words didn't seem possessive or desperate like Laura's. They seemed honest. Delicate. He felt like hurting her would be like stomping on a flower. Like it'd just be meaninglessly destroying something nice… he was actually considering this.

"I once had a friend. Her name was Umber Skia. Her parents were… not good people. She didn't have much leeway to lose. Her clan and my clan got into an altercation and we had to fight for the honor of the clan, being rising stars in our clans. I held no ill will for the Skia clan personally but I still had to fight. It was for my clan. Umber asked me to please let her win even if just by a hair. She came up with desperate plans that would let us both look good. In the end we both went in. I won. I didn't want to do it but I decided that while I cared for my friend I had a duty to my clan. To my clan's honor. To myself."

"Umber and I aren't enemies. She understands why I did it. She was still punished by her parents for losing and she was mad for awhile but she eventually understood that chaining me down with friendship was selfish of her."

Lyra looked up to Dexter with a sort of fire in her eyes. "Friends are incredibly important. You should absolutely value them. But you shouldn't value them above what you feel you should do. If you want to do something and you have to leave a friend behind then you should do it."

Dexter could empathize with what Lyra was saying. His friends were important and he did value them. But he could always make new friends. There was a better life of sorts here in Mistral. He liked their policies quite a lot and in all honesty he would probably support it besides the almost-slavery. Then again, that would probably fall out of fashion in at least Mistral. It was apparently inefficient and only really in use due to Mantle.

Dexter wouldn't really be giving his allegiance to Mistral. It would be going to the Valkyrie clan. To Lyra. And that wouldn't be bad. Dexter liked Lyra. A lot. Unless she had some terrible secret he could see himself happy with her… he was actually considering it. He was actually considering marrying a woman he had known for a day. Well, she had offered first… maybe. Maybe he would be alright with it. Just maybe. Dexter's eyes dropped lower for a moment. Ah, right. There was that as well. Definitely alright with it. Being a faunus had given him some interesting instincts it seemed. Oh was that blood flowing downwards? Let's not.

"Well…" Dexter started carefully. "I can't say that I'm entirely opposed to it." Lyra and Freya looked unoffended to that. "But I can't say I can marry a woman who I've only known for a day. However, If we could start with courting first…" Then maybe he could tell his team the situation and figure this utter mess of what could… oh dear. They might actually encourage him to marry Lyra and act as a spy for Vale. Let's hope not.

Lyra smiled brilliantly at Dexter's counteroffer. Freya looked unsurprised and perhaps even a little happy at Dexter's concession.

"Oh… that's good." Lyra sighed happily. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't accepted. Or, well, accepted to try it out. Close enough really. But… you'll want to go back to your friends and tell them what's happened right?" Dexter nodded. "That's fine with me so long as you leave me a gift to mark our courtship, wear a mark in return, and swear to return within a week."

Dexter nodded at the requests easily. He was still reeling at the fact that he was now courting someone and _it wasn't laura_. Laura was going to kill him and probably annihilate the entire Valkyrie clan. Well he'd cross that bridge when it came. She'd probably only heavily wound him.

"And what would this mark be?" Dexter asked. Lyra smiled and walked to a wardrobe in her room. She removed a false back and her hand came out with a sort of pendant. It was made of a light blued silver with a lapis stone lining the rim of the oval pendant. The chains were made of silver far less blue but more shiny. Dexter really liked how it looked. When Lyra handed it to him he opened the pendant and saw a very well done picture of a younger Lyra looking back at him in a red dress. She had those breasts when she was young?! Absurd… come to think of it he hadn't seen a single flat chested Valkyrie. Wow. Talk about good genes.

"It's my mother pendant actually." Lyra said happily. Oh so that was her mother… they look nearly identical. "It was done when she was young and given to my father." Dexter smiled at that. Lyra was really trusting him with this, huh? It was touching. But since he only had his clothes he would have to stall for time while he made something.

Dexter smiled a real smile and looked deep into Lyra's eyes. He knelt onto a knee and held Lyra's hand. She looked surprised at his actions. "I, Dexter, swear on my aura, craft, and honor that I will return within three days after leaving your household." He sealed the drama with a kiss on her hand. Lyra blushed a little and turned her head with a small smile. Not one for noble gestures it seemed. Well, it still worked.

Freya smiled and rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "I took you more for the dashing rogue type than the honorable knight." She said dryly.

"I am. I wouldn't do honorable and noble things like that without some sort of ulterior purpose." Lyra looked to him with a fake betrayed look. "I needed to stall for time to make this." Dexter reached into his cloak's newly made pocket and withdrew a pendant similar to Lyra's. It was made of smoothed bone with the outside being blackened bone. The pendant instead had rings of smaller and smaller red octagons with lines piercing the angles and meeting in the center. It wasn't amazing jewelry but Dexter felt that it was very good for being made and thought of in ten seconds. He was also thankful for his different colored bones. They were only aesthetically useful but he used them quite often.

"Whoa…" Lyra murmured. "This is really beautiful."

Freya looked at the pendant with interest. "It is indeed. Try it on."

Lyra put on the pendant with a grin. "It feels warm." She said.

"All my creations are warm when they're made at first. The feeling will fade in a few minutes."

Dexter then slipped his on. It was odd to wear jewelry since he never wore jewelry of any sort. If he did he would have to make it himself every time. It would The deep black was enchanting for many people. It was also warm being made of thick and soft hide.

A moment passed where the two admired their new jewelry. "I'm sorry to cut this short, really," Freya cut in, "but Dexter… Don't you have friends expecting you?" Dexter looked outside through an open window.

"Yes. I should probably go back now." Lyra gave him a sad smile.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you Dexter. I hope I can get to know you more next time we meet."

Dexter smiled at the thought though Lyra couldn't really see it due to only seeing his side. "I can say the same about you." Dexter walked to the window and turned to fact the two. "I'll try to keep Laura from charging in and slaughtering you all."

Suddenly a look of realization entered Freya's eyes. "This Laura… does she have red hair, blue eyes, and the power to manipulate ice? Dexter nodded. Alarm crossed Freya's face. There's the right response.

After nodding Dexter leaned backwards out the window. Lyra ran to the window in alarm. She trusted Dexter to be safe but that didn't make her less concerning. She slowed as a large bird flew upwards from the window with a silvery pendant around it's neck. Lyra smiled in amusement at Dexter's small prank and walked to her bed and collapsed in it. Freya laughed lightly at her.

"So… when should I expect grandkids?" Teased Freya. Lyra groaned but said nothing. _"Perhaps in nine or so months?"_ She thought curiously. She had always wanted kids. The thought sent a small smile to her mouth. What a pleasant thought… one day it might even be reality.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter flew into the team's apartment easily. He was worried about breaking the pendant by getting it caught in his shoulders or torso so he took it off his neck first. He then transformed again to a faunus and put it around his neck again.

As it turned out Joan and Laura were in the room. "Finally!" Laura said with a relieved smile. "We were getting worried! What happened to the sabotage?" Joan marked his page in his book and set it aside.

"Well…" Dexter had decided to get this out of the way quickly but now found himself stopped by Laura's eyes.

"Well I decided to get in by being a kitten in distress. Someone came by to pick me up. The clan head of the Valkyrie clan." Joan sat straight up giving Dexter his full attention. Laura gave the 'oh shit' face when something went terribly wrong.

"She brought me directly to the clan compound. I was, unfortunately, caught in one of her hyper moments where she releases her energy and was accidentally cut on my side. I healed rapidly, as I tend to do, and they discovered me." Joan looked extremely concerned. Laura looked nervous. Dexter felt just a little guilty about his lie. It wouldn't really change anything to tell a tiny lie. In the end it didn't really matter how he was caught, he rationalized.

"I was brought to an interrogation room in the basement and interrogated. I told them my wealth, avoided telling them of what I was doing in the eastern islands, lied about my abilities, and told them that my relationship with Vale was nonexistent and that I'm only on the team for you all. Surprisingly they believed it all. They're rather gullible."

Joan smirked slightly while Laura continued looking nervous. "Then they had me fight Lyra. I didn't really win but more like hurt her aura while she believed she broke mine after seeing blood. They called me S rank or high A." Laura's knuckles were white from being clenched and Joan looked over Dexter for wounds. There were none, of course.

"They brought me to Lyra's room and…" Dexter paused for dramatic effect. Joan and Laura were on the edge of their seats. "They offered me a marriage with Lyra Valkyrie."

Silence reigned for a moment. "WHAT?!" Laura roared.

"Please tell me you didn't accept it." Joan pleaded. Dexter fell silent. Frost collected on the windows and ice creeped over the edges of the cracks in doors and windows so they wouldn't open.

Dexter's so far stoic face cracked a little in fear. "I narrowed it down to just courtship…" Dexter said weakly. A window cracked under the intense cold inside and heat outside. "She's actually a really nice person…" some ice collected under Dexter's feet. He shifted them and broke the ice. As he set his feet down the ice crept up again.

"Dexter…" Surprisingly Laura forced herself to calm down. "I had wanted to save this talk for after the battle this time but it seems I don't actually have a choice." Dexter looked to Laura in concern. Laura took in a deep shuddering breath. Whether from rage or fear he couldn't tell.

"I sent a letter to the king of Vale some short time ago…"

 **AN: Oooooh she's in trouble. So yeah some people are going to be thinking that the courtship between Dexter and Lyra is super faked or such but people meet in bars all the time and hook up. This isn't really that different. Although Dexter really is blessed that nobody's tried to pull a fast one on him. He has no idea whether Freya is lying to him or not. Then again, she's a Valkyrie. I see them as basically the Uzumaki clan from Naruto with above-average breast size and a penchant for lightning, breakfast foods, and hyperactivity.**

 **Once more I'd like to remind you all that I'm sorry for falling behind. I'll probably be able to get out a chapter tomorrow at least and if it's late I'll make it up.**


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: Sorry for the late chapter. Life really kicks your ass sometimes, you know? Well I'm glad to see there wasn't anything negative about Lyra. I didn't expect people to be shipping her so soon though.**

 **To that one guest account that asked me about what happened to Laura to make her so obsessive I thought I clarified enough but I suppose I'll say it again. Laura didn't have anyone for a long while. She just had some acquaintances she kept in touch with like Abaya and nothing else really. Sure she had those companions that stuck with her but they all died off since they weren't able to survive one way or another. Then Kat betrayed her and she spent some time alone.**

 **Now in comes Dexter. He's strong, somewhat smart in his own way, and pretty dependant on Laura. She kind of took the leads in their travels. They spend some time together but never really get together and that's all well and good. Eventually Laura is getting pretty antsy about a relationship and the war starts. War goes on for a few years and NOW we have the big turn in er character.**

 **Keep in mind that three years passed of Laura holding herself back. Dexter is pretty much in her mind as a companion that won't die and that she likes. Probably the only person who won't die on her considering her history of travelling companions, which certainly left their fair share of scars.**

 **Finally the letter comes. Laura want's Dexter since it's more what he represents. She won't have to worry about somebody stabbing her in her sleep or fight in a war or be forced to wander or ANYTHING. Dexter and a peaceful life guaranteed are like the golden tickets. The gates of heaven. The holy grail. Something she desperately wants but doesn't really believe she'll ever have.**

 **With the temptation of that imagined life right in front of her anyone can have a moment of weakness. But for Laura it's not really a moment and more like a situation that spiraled out of control for her. A fixation that grew too far.**

 **I hope that clears this stuff up. My bad that I didn't display Laura with that well enough to really understand it without an author's note. This is my first real attempt at a fanfiction here at this site so of course it's going to have it's fair share of issues. Thank you all for reading.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 25**

 **The truth**

"I sent a letter to the king of Vale some short time ago…" Laura tried to look as calm as she could be. You could easily see the rage and a host of other emotions on her face. Joan sat off to the side. He looked to want to say something but refrained from doing so out of courtesy for Laura. She had spoken first, after all.

"I asked for something I didn't believe I could have. Peace. A home. A husband." Dexter stiffened at that. Nothing good could come of it. Nothing at all. "I bargained with him that I would fight in the battle here where we finally advance from skirmishes and raids and go to real battles between armies and Mantle and Vacuo get involved as more than passive supporters. I use my power in full and make a statement about the power of Vale to Mistral and Mantle. In exchange I get a pass on the war and a house at Dawnstar point. Where Abaya lived, remember? It was burned down by the grimm a year and a half ago but it's still a beautiful location."

Dexter barely took notice of that. There was one detail that Laura was avoiding. "The marriage?" He gritted out. Laura steeled her eyes.

"To you. Or courtship for a time. The king agreed to marry you to me regardless of your stance." Dexter activated his glare at Laura in a small fit of wrath. She flinched but stood her ground. The glare worsened and her legs and arm shook.

Dexter glared at her in silence for a good minute. When he finally spoke his voice was tinged with malice. "It seems I have been too kind to you." Laura made as if to protest but Dexter upped the intensity of his glare for a moment and she shut up. "I've tried to reject you many times without actually telling you. I made no advances from close contact, I ignored your subtle hints, and most tellingly, when you kissed me I didn't kiss back. I thought that was enough to be clear. Seemingly not."

Laura's eyes burned with a desire to say something but she said nothing. Dexter's glare was too strong. For good reason too. It was almost at maximum intensity.

"So to make it utterly clear I will say this. I do not desire in any way to be romantically involved with you. It has nothing to do with your looks, status, or anything physical whatsoever. I do not want to court you because of why you want to court me or at least my interpretation of what it is." Laura ceased her struggles to say something and stared at Dexter intensely.

"You are desperate for reprieve from your loneliness. You think that I am the only solution because I won't die and I enjoy being around you. That's utterly wrong. You're so focused on me that you forget about others who you could easily grow close to. You've always thought of your team as teammates for example. Only Rella could be called a friend. Don't think I haven't noticed how you act as a leader to the team rather than a friend."

Laura once more began fighting the effects of the fear with a passion. Dexter kept it at it's maximum intensity. All the resistance training they did and the passion with which Laura wished to speak was lessening the effects on Laura. A glance at Joan showed him with dilated eyes and a clenched fist.

"I like you, Laura. As a friend. You've just grown so desperate to be near me that you've lost sight of what I want. What I feel. I don't want a house. It was nice in the islands but that was an outpost. Temporary. I don't desire to spend my years on a porch with children. I want to see the world. Go to places where I can do as I please. More than anything, though, I don't want to be with someone I don't love." With that Dexter completely removed the presence he had been exerting. Joan gasped and fell back to lay on the couch. Laura slammed her feet down and nearly jumped up.

"NO!" She yelled. The fear was still present in her but color was rapidly returning to her hands and her limbs had already stopped shaking. "It isn't desperation! I know I can make you happy because that's what you give me when you're around! I haven't blocked out others either! Abaya, Keller, Hod, Grell, and Rella! I keep myself as a team leader but that doesn't mean I'm not a friend to my team too!" Dexter remembered those people. They had been friends to Laura. Not close ones though. Halfway through her protests Laura's eyes flared with the familiar energy of her power. It seemed her emotions caused the power to flare up. It didn't often do that.

"I admit that I knew you wouldn't be happy with the arrangement at first but if you would just give me a chance then I know I could help you be happy around me the same way I am around you!" Laura stopped breathlessly and looked to Dexter with all of her focus.

"... No, Laura. I don't love you as anything more than my best friend." Dexter said quietly. Laura tried to say something but nothing came out. She looked to the ground and clenched her fists again. A moment passed and she stormed out of the room with her cloak and left.

A small moment passed where nothing happened. Then Dexter looked to Joan. "Sorry you had to see that. I didn't intend to catch you in our spat."

"I wouldn't call that a spat. More like a fight." Joan said tiredly. Dexter smiled despondently.

"So you really don't love her, huh?" Joan asked easily. Dexter shook his head. He couldn't see Laura as anything more than his best friend. "Then what about that Lyra woman?" Dexter looked to Joan curiously.

"You mean to ask if I love a woman I met less than a day ago?"

"It happens. One of my sisters met a man and married him within a month. They're one of the most stable couples I've ever met. I know of a woman who married a man after knowing him for an hour. My elder brother's friend I believe. They're not the best couple but they work."

Dexter was silent for a moment. "I don't love her but I do like her. A lot. She's happy, excitable, thoughtful, sensible, kind, and she wasn't even very mad when I deceived her. Most likeable about her is that she trusts me."

"It sounds like you like her a lot." Joan smiled faintly.

"I do. She's not without her flaws, though. She tends to take things at face value over looking into them. It works in my favor but it's not good for her. It seems to be a trend among the Valkyrie clan to do that though."

Joan nodded. Then he hesitated. "Look, I should just get this out of the way right now. If you publicly court her or even marry her then I'll have to treat you as more like an enemy if we meet in public. You'd be aligning yourself with Mistral. Treason." Dexter grinned.

"Actually it wouldn't be treason. I'm not a Valean hunter, remember? The only loyalty I owe to Vale is through my position as an aide to Laura. Even then I've not been in the position long. I'm not even a Valean citizen, you know?"

Joan grinned faintly at Dexter. "I never knew that. That you traveled with the team made me thing that you were a Valean hunter. I supposed I should have asked. It explains a lot actually. Like why you don't pay taxes on that dragon's hoard of yours."

"Like you do either?"

"Fair point."

"So why do the Valkyries want to marry you to their head?" Joan asked curiously.

"A variety of reasons. Mostly, though, they want a monopoly on my dolls and access to my skills. The treasure hoard of mine I'm hoping to keep away from them. I doubt they'd mind much if I make them some more dolls in exchange. I think I've been selling them for less than what they were worth."

Joan nodded. "When you were selling them from the islands they weren't worth mich because of travel costs but her in Vacuo or in Mistral they're worth far more. At least twenty times what they were in the islands. Probably more."

Dexter hummed with indifference. "I've got a few ideas about avoiding paying allegiance to the king of Mistral. I don't have anything set yet but I've got a few ideas. Do you have any advice?"

Joan thought for a few seconds. "Well getting involved with the Valkyrie clan would put you near Mistral in terms of allegiance but you wouldn't pay it directly. You would be a huntsman in service to the clan which is in service to Mistral. You could negotiate with the clan to not accept jobs you don't want to. If you bargained with Mistral directly you'd fail since Mistral is far more powerful than you. With the clan, however, you know that they're eager to get their hands on you. You have leverage with that. you could negotiate a few small things like selecting your own missions and freeing yourself from serving Mistral as a combatant. The Valkyrie clan wouldn't care so long as you accepted some missions and Mistral can't speak out because of their clan laws."

Dexter grinned. "I was thinking something similar. Your idea is better though."

"What were you thinking?"

"I was going to request to not accept a citizenship of Mistral."

"That wouldn't fly. You have to be a citizen to sell goods and even then you could be conscripted by the army despite not being a citizen. Better to hide yourself under the Valkyrie clan's laws. It's legal as stone so it's more solid a protection than a lack of citizenship. Other clans would back you as well since a violation of your rights and freedom could mean that their own rights are in danger if Mistral gets away with using you."

Dexter smiled. "Thanks Joan. You're a good friend." Joan shrugged.

"I actually want to ask something." Dexter gestured for him to go on. "You said you would want to travel but you're planning on tying yourself to the Valkyrie clan. How would that work?"

Dexter smirked. "As a Mistralian huntsman under the sect of the Valkyrie clan I'd be allowed to take missions throughout Mistral and possibly Mantle if they've got a shortage of huntsmen at some point. I could see the world then. Besides, I can fly three quarters of remnant in two weeks. I think my wife, if I go through with that sort of thing, might get a little annoyed if I'm gone that long but I think she could come with me sometimes. I wouldn't mind spending time at the clan compound if it's anything like the one they have here. It's probably better actually since they're just borrowing the one here from Mistral."

Joan nodded. "Want to go drinking? I feel like you need one." Dexter smiled. He needed to talk to somebody more than drink but one would certainly lead to the other. Besides, it was only eight. He had some time to kill.

|-\\\/-|

"And I told R'lla… that's not even funny." Joan slurred slightly. Dexter said nothing as he sipped his gin. Wait for it… "Hah! Exactly! If she had said it abou' Mantle then it would have been funny." That's it. Joan's mind was apparently a little mushy an so what he thought Dexter was going to say was what he interpreted him as saying. It had been a little confusing at first but it was somewhat amusing to just listen in silence as people looked at Joan with concern.

A burly man tapped Dexter on the shoulder. "Is yer mate okay?" He whispered in concern.

"He's a lightweight and has some things going on. Just let him tire himself out and I'll take him home." Dexter assured. The man took a glance to Joan, who was saying something about horses and outhouses before clapping Dexter on the shoulder and walking away.

"Wait, was that guy a pirate?" Joan asked in confusion. Dexter shrugged. If he had said something about booty or boats then he would have said yes.

It was in the second hour of light drinking for Joan that something strange happened. A large sweaty man in fine clothing (he really was sweaty. Dexter could smell him) entered with a nervous stick-like man who wrung his hands.

"We demand a drink!" Sweaty declared while walking to the bar. The nervous man trailed his way behind Sweaty murmuring apologies to people and flinching occasionally at small movements.

"Inkeep!" Sweaty called loudly. "Could I get a mug of red for me and my friend here?"

"Red wine, rum, or something else?" The barman growled. The bar didn't actually have an inn so he was just a barkeep. He was good at mixing drinks though. A somewhat useless skill considering everyone just drank to get drunk here rather than for flavor. A wasted talent in Dexter's opinion. The man was good.

"Rum of course!" Sweaty declared with his usual volume. He flashed a smile at the barkeep that spoke of pedophilia and the barkeep glared flatly at him. After a brief rummaging around under the counter the barkeep came up with some low grade red rum and poured it grudgingly into a mug. Did he actually intend to turn Sweaty away with bad alcohol?

Sweaty gulped the rum in one gulp - Dexter was liking this man less and less - and slammed the mug down on the counter. "Another!" He boomed. Stick-figure next to him jumped at the noise despite seeing the mug go down up close. The barkeep got him another with a scowl. The plan was a bust. The man had even less taste than he had expected.

Sweaty gulped the mug in the same fashion as before. "Good work man!" Sweaty said as loudly as usual. "You know… I heard you were the best at mixing drinks in the city." The barkeep nodded grudgingly. Dexter wouldn't want to be acknowledged by Sweaty either.

"Well I like your drinks! You're hired!" The man looked at Sweaty like he was an idiot, which Dexter was fairly certain he was. He didn't even try to protest that he hadn't even mixed the drinks. He probably assumed he would be demanded to mix a drink for sweaty.

"I'm not for sale." The barkeep growled.

"Nonesense! Everything and everyone has a price! What's yours?!" Sweaty gave his molester grin again and the young man sitting next to him decided it was time to go despite having half of his very nice ale left. The man in the seat next to him subtly dragged it over to himself with an innocent look.

"I don't have a price. I have requirements." The barkeep growled more. Dexter was considering whether it was just his normal voice. Come to think of it he had greeted everyone with a growling voice.

"Well what are your requirements then?!"

The barkeep looked to Sweaty flatly. "First is an appreciation for my craft. You don't even seem to know beer from barley. Would you please leave my bar?"

Sweaty didn't even blink. "I have an appreciation for all things pedestrian!" The barkeep's left eye twitched. Sweaty seemingly had no tact whatsoever. "After all! I am a noble! A hero of the people!"

"A noble, you say?" Joan had seemingly taken an interest in the conversation. It was hard not to. If only he hadn't spoken up though. "I'm actually a noble too. Joan Arc. You are?"

Sweaty turned to Joan with some interest. "I am Baron Fratian Oobleck! Forty third in line for the kingship of Vale! I came to Vacuo to help out with the noble war efforts of our king!"

"Ah! I'm glad to make your acquaintance then!" Joan reached out and shook one of Sweatie's meaty paws (Dexter refused to call this lump of oily lard a noble). Dexter winced in sympathy when Joan's hand came away sweaty. By god it's spreading.

"So what have you done to aid in our crusade against the enemies of the crown?!" Sweaty asked jovially.

"I'm a huntsman acting as an aide to commander Laura Frost. My companion here is Dexter. He's of a similar position."

"As an aide to her?"

"No. His relationship is somewhat more personal." Dexter would have punched Joan. Best friends TECHNICALLY made him an aide with a more personal relationship but saying it that way made him sound like a -

"A gigolo then! You don't see many men in such a position. I can see why you drink so heavily at such an establishment as this my fr-… my apologies. I cannot call you my friend with a position as, ah, reputable as yours."

Dexter glared. Just a little bit. Sweaty would have a heart attack if his blood pressure rose by a sugar cookie's worth. Still, though, Sweaty took the hint.

"So Joan, my friend! You're a huntsman you say? I actually have need for somebody with such skills as yours! Would you be interested in a job for me?!"

"Of course! I'd be happy to assist you. We are friends, after all." Dexter's glare upped the intensity just a little bit. No way in hell was he helping Joan with this.

"Actually your friend may be of use in this endeavor as well."

Dexter lost his chill a small bit. "Go blow yours-"

"Of course! My best friend and I are quite inseparable." Sweaty didn't so much as glance at Dexter when he spoke. Maybe the glare was making him scared of Dexter so he was trying not to focus on him?

"Good news! You see, there's a mansion that the locals call haunted two miles south of Vacuo's city limits. It's actually got a small geist infestation. I believe your friend would serve as a fantastic human shield for you if you were to be in need of a quick escape. I am willing to pay you handsomely for your services." Dexter didn't miss how Sweaty directed his words only to Joan. Did he not intend to reward Dexter? Ah, of course. He was a lowly faunus gigolo taken in by the gracious faunus sympathizer Laura Frost, whose heart is too big for her own good. He was truly lucky to be next to Sweaty the balding walrus faunus for even a moment. He deserved the highest of respects. Time to repay him.

"I WILL SEPARATE YOUR BALLS FRO-" Joan swung an arm around Dexter's neck like he was still his friend after calling him a gigolo and human shield. His hand moved to cover his mouth and Dexter kept his mouth closed unwillingly.

"Jeez quiet down Dexter. Don't get mad at me loaning you out to Sweat - I mean, Baron Oobleck. It's only for a night." Dexter punched Joan in the gut. Fucker deserved it. Drunk or not.

Joan coughed and doubled over. Sweaty looked in alarm to Dexter and in some shock. "It's his kink." Dexter explained. "He likes being… **man** handled. That and whips." Sweaty looked mildly disturbed at the implications of that and shook his head.

"Well… when you're done just… go to Vasilias Manor. Rising sun district. Ah, good - goodbye." Oobleck left in a slight hurry.

Dexter looked to Joan with some annoyance. "Are you really drunk?" Joan looked surprised at the accusation.

"What makes you say that?" Dexter rolled his eyes.

"You almost called him Sweaty, you took two mugs of what I thought were really pale ale or vodka and were still coherent, you went with the gigolo misunderstanding too fast, your arm moved quickly and smoothly when you swung it over my shoulders, you inturrupted me both times I was about to insult Baron sweaty, you forgot to slur after that one time you did it, and you're a terrible actor and liar in general. Stick to killing and playing with aura." Joan scowled.

"So do you want to say why you're doing this in the first place? It's not for the money I know already. You didn't negotiate or even get an adress."

Joan grinned. "I'm not telling." Dexter scowled and punched his shoulder. Joan winced but didn't look annoyed.

"Wow, that angry, huh?" Dexter glared at him a little and his point got across. Joan took a look around at the other patrons who were staring at them rather angrily. The message was clear. They had disturbed their drinking and should get out.

"Ah… Let's go." Joan muttered.

|-\\\/-|

Joan had refused to fly to the manor. They had jogged the whole way. It had drawn a few looks from passer bys but it didn't really matter to either of them. The run had been quite nice. Peaceful even. There were quite a lot of fireflies in Vacuo surprisingly. They looked quite pretty as they huddled in groups throughout the desert shrubbery. It was like they were little pillars of light at night.

The manor was… big. Very big. It was surrounded by a wrought iron fence merged sloppily with a brick wall. It was like the wall couldn't decide to be one or the other so it chose both. In front of the manor was a statue of a woman sitting under an apple tree with a few children. It was quite well done actually. Vacuo did have good stonework though their metalworks were horrible. Mistral and Vale made the best weapons. Mantle had started shipping out guns, though. If they became popular then they would have a leg up on the competition.

The mansion was, of course, made of stone. What made it notable was that it was made out of solid stone. Giant slabs of stone appeared to have been carved as a whole and placed to arrange a house. Dexter believed Rella had mentioned the style once. It was popular in old Vacuo about a half century ago. It had fallen out of fashion when clay deposits were found and the difficult to transport massive slabs fell out of fashion as housing materials. The brick wall, then, showed a more recent modification to the manor.

"Should we lure them out or confront them inside?" Dexter asked.

"I'd prefer them in an enclosed space." Joan answered. "It would make them easier to fight. Less material to protect themselves with."

"... Well let's go." Dexter strided forward easily. Joan took one last look at the manor with his eyebrows drawn together before frowning and catching up. Dexter tried to open the door and found it closed. A quick filling out with his semblance had it open in an instant. He had to shovel the sand out of the locking mechanism as well. A quick push made a small grating sound in the hinges. A glance showed that sand was caught in them. Somehow Dexter wasn't surprised.

Joan peeked around the corners and spoke "I'll check the west wing. You do the east one. We'll meet in the north one."

"How do we know which wing is which inside?" Dexter questioned. Joan tilted his head a little at Dexter and looked upwards. Dexter did so too and saw the writing 'West wing' above Joan's door. "Oh." Dexter said. He turned around then and made strides through the corridor. A kick through the doors revealed no grimm in any of them.

It was in the second corridor that Dexter was about to move on when a blanket moved. An arrow was fired in a blink. A small grunt and a… creature stood up from the covers in an unnatural looking jerk. It looked like some sort of twisted beowolf with a longer muzzle that was malformed into a horrid smile, an emancipated and grisly build that prominently showed the grimm's ribs and stick-like arms, and long nightmarish claws. The beast's dull and cruel red eyes. Dexter froze. The grimm turned to him with a snap and the horrible grin grew larger and crueler. A hiss of air and the grimm threw it's head back. In a panic Dexter nocked an arrow and let it fly on reflex. The grimm let out a "HAHA-!" before the arrow flew through the roof of it's mouth. That was a lucky shot.

A frantic pounding and scratching on the floor came distantly from the door behind Dexter. Dexter half closed the door and ran as fast as he could to the closet. It was just when he closed the door to it that the door cracked and shattered. A creature burst into the room with speed. It was twitchy and excited. A cackler.

Dexter hated cacklers. Hated them with a passion. The beasts were like evil beowolves from some hellscape. They were stronger, more durable, and far, far faster than any beowolf could ever be. The worst part was their laugh. The cacklers were more based off of hyenas than wolves. They were pack hunters. When they sensed prey they… _cackled_ if you could even call it that. It was cackling, sure, but it was high pitched and filled with malice. Dexter truly thought that his mother only made these grimm to fulfill some sort of child's nightmare. The cackle from them called their brethren, more cacklers, to hunt. In a mansion that might have geists? It would be terrifying. Dexter was thankful he had to deal with these monsters rather than Joan. If he had been found the cacklers would have called.

The new cackler laughed a little as he looked to his dead fellow. His nose twitched a few times and he walked around the area a few times. Luckily Dexter didn't sweat or anything, being a grimm so he didn't release any inherent smell. He did, however, smell faintly of sand. He could only hope.

The cackler prowled the room a bit. It clawed at the corpse, perhaps making sure hus buddy wasn't playing dead. It raked the room with his eyes before heading out to roam the halls. It hadn't decided to warn it's buddies yet but it was only a matter of time before Joan was found by a cackler or something. Why had they split up again? Oh right. They were cocky. Hopefully Dexter could meet with Joan, use HIM as a meat shield for the terrors, kill all of them, and they could fly back to Vacuo to do… something. Perhaps Dexter could visit Lyra again. He could use something nice after being thrown into a mansion filled with his worst nightmares.

Dexter crept out of the closet without a sound and peered out of the hallway with his bow nocked. The cackler was gone, which both comforted and terrified Dexter. At least it was gone… right?

Dexter decided to, rather than simply run to Joan, he would be stealthy. He wouldn't use his leopard form either. He could be camouflaged but he was a huntsman for the moment. He would kill grimm, as was supposed to. They would all have to die eventually.

Dexter crouched down somewhat and threw his cloak over his head. He formed a mask of black bone over his face for good measure. He should get used to using one in fights. His face was a bit of a weak spot. Looking cool wasn't an excuse to not use head protection. Joan had his aura shields and he still used armor. Dexter really had no excuse. A little aura on his feet helped to further dampen his footfalls if he walked on broken glass or gravel and Dexter formed a sabre in a knife and held the blade pointed away from him and a throwing knife extra sharp in his off hand. He could sneak attack any grimm he ran across pretty easily now.

A minute of slowly making his way across the corridors later Dexter ran into his first cackler. Two of them to be exact. One asleep and the other nibbling on a human femur. The sleeping one wasn't an issue but the awake one would be a problem if he didn't deal with him quickly. A throwing knife would make a thunk sound and wake the sleeping one so he would have to go about this closely.

The feeding one was close to a window that looked into a courtyard so Dexter crept through a storage room and opened a courtyard window. There were no grimm at the moment. Dexter leapt to the adjacent window and landed rather neatly. When he tried to open it, however, the window was a little noisy to open. He fell back in alarm and hung onto the window sill by one hand. Above him the cackler laughed a little and a clicking of claws on stone was heard. The cackler lost interest in a few seconds and returned to nibbling on the bone.

Dexter calmed himself and pulled himself up. He dashed silently to the cackler with the bone and slit it's vocal cords swiftly. The beast lashed out silently but Dexter hugged it and sharpened his knife to the extreme with aura. The beast's head slid off and Dexter quietly set it to the floor. The grimm's hide was tougher than he had expected. He would have to sharpen more but he would prefer to conserve his aura. The extreme sharpening was rather taxing. He couldn't use it that often.

Whatever the case Dexter crept as fast as he dared to the other cackler and simply stabbed it through the eye holes with his knives. It fell limp. Easily done.

Some more creeping and Dexter found another cackler in a storage room that was rummaging through a few boxes that had clearly already been rummaged through. Dexter climbed the shelves and fell on it from above. It stood no chance. A glance at the shelves revealed something interesting. A necklace of pearls. Black pearls. Well, they were sewn onto a tattered dress of silk but a little knife work removed the rags. Lyra might not care for a necklace but Dexter could just add it to his hoard. He hadn't ever found black pearl necklaces. There was one small one where the pearls alternated black and normal white though. Well, he liked it so he was taking it.

A quick rummage revealed no more treasure of great value. Just some uncut rubies and a platinum bracelet. Dexter took them. He might as well. There was really no reason not to. Oh, right. Joan was ignorant and his life was on the line… Dexter needed to stop pandering to his greed. He could really just loot the whole mansion later and give it to Lyra. Transporting all of it to the eastern islands would be a pain if there were other rooms with valuables in the manor. Maybe they had a treasury. Mmmm. Oh, what? Ah, Joan. Right.

Dexter moved a little faster to make up for lost time. There were a few cacklers around but they were alone and easy pickings. Finally he made it to the northern wing.

Dexter ran as quickly as he dared to the western wing.a few corridors away. He had hurried and not checked his rooms so Joan was probably still checking his wing. Dexter raced around a little recklessly. He was still pretty quiet at least. Sudden;y he saw a flash of white. Dexter crept closer. "Joan!" He hissed. Joan jumped high in the air and whipped around. Oh right. Dexter was still being stealthy.

"Who are you?! Joan hissed with equally low volume. Dexter blinked. Was he… Ah. the mask. Dexter broke down the bone mask and Joan raised an eyebrow and relaxed. "I've never seen you wear a mask before." He said simply. Dexter frowned. He hadn't and it was his mistake. Sometimes you miss the simplest of things.

"Have you found anything?" Dexter asked.

Joan frowned with him. "No. Nothing. Why?"

That was… worrying. Why hadn't Joan seen anything? Why were the cacklers only on the east side? Unless…

A hulking and pitch black form lurched behind Joan. Dexter's honed instincts screamed. He gripped Joan hard and threw himself and Joan off to the side into one of the rooms. Dexter shut the door as fast as he could while being mostly quiet and pulled Joan aside. "Gauntlets up." He said quietly as he could. Joan flicked the safeties off of one and pointed it at the door. For ten tense seconds nothing came through.

"What's wrong?" Asked Joan worriedly. Dexter listened closely to his instincts. His eyes widened when the shadows from the doorframe crept back from the frame. Something light hadn't come. The darkness had gone. That was incredibly disturbing.

"Did you see that?" asked Dexter fearfully. Joan looked closely at the doorframe. He shook his head.

"There's something there or it's already left. It saw us and was probably following you. I only saw shadows." Joan opened his mouth but Dexter interrupted him. " **I** only saw shadows. I can see most everything in the dark. The only times I can't see in the darkness is when there's nearly no light. At all." Joan stiffened and looked at the doorframe in concern.

"... Should we leave?" Joan asked with a hint of apprehension in his voice. Dexter considered it. He really did. They could just walk away. There wasn't much for them here… but what of the next huntsmen to come? Or the next ones? What is a regiment of the army came? Could they even get out without conflict? And of course the biggest factor of all… Dexter was curious.

"No. We're staying."

 **AN: Spooky manor with geists *cough* ghosts *cough* in it. But are there really geists? What was the shadow? And I really gotta hand props to Super Saiyin cyndaquil. His cacklers are good grimm. Not super powerful but scary. Sadly not many grimm are a match for Dexter. He would get stomped by a dragon or something but a conflict where he chooses how to approach and isn't notices? Oh they're boned… for now.**

 **Did I mention that the manor has a basement? Because it does. Fun times. Not foreshadowing at all. This is like a mini-arc by the way. It's got some important stuff but it isn't immediately critical. It'll be two or three more chapters. It'll only take this night and the next day in remnant though. Dexter and Joan can't be absent from the war forever. In fact, the hunters are kind of playing hookie from the war. They're not going to be punished or anything but since conflict is allowed between hunters now it's kind of implied that huntsmen will fight. That they should.**


	26. Chapter 26

**AN:Longer than usual this time. Next chapter is a little shorter though so enjoy it while it lasts. Also, there's a lot of fighting this chapter and one big question mark for you all. A bit of a wrench in the works of RWBY. Have fun with the comments. Hehehehe…**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 26**

 **The stand**

"I don't like this." Joan said. He held his hand up though. It glowed white brightly, casting away shadows from the area around him.

"I know. I don't either." Dexter agreed. He held his own violet light up. It casted a more sinister hue on his surroundings but the white tint of Joan's own aura lamp made it less ominous.

The two kept their backs together and an eye out for any shadows. Dexter had seen the shadows collect at a few places. They would advance near the two but would seem hesitant around the light and retreat after Dexter shined his lamp a little brighter.

The aura lamp couldn't quite be considered an aura technique since anyone could do it easily but it wasn't… NOT an aura technique either. Aura techniques used shaping aura to suit a new purpose. Not as well as a semblance in any way though. Using the aura lamp was just like making your aura shine a little brighter than it would normally. Sort of like fanning flames to make them burn a little higher. The more your aura the brighter your lamp and the easier it was to 'fan' them. So it wasn't really an aura technique than it was a thing you could do with your aura.

Dexter had looked deep into the shadowy figure a few times. It was easier to distinguish the figure after a few glimpses. The figure was barely a more dense figure of shadow in already dense shadows. Beyond that it was like subconsciously you didn't want to see him. Your eyes would slide right over him if you weren't careful. It was like you didn't register that he was there even if he was right had also noticed that the figure was smart. Scary smart. He stayed out of Dexter's field of view most of the time. He was watching their eye movements, watching them closely to better stay out of sight. Dexter had put on his mask again and the shadow had a harder time staying out of his line of sight from Dexter's eyes being sunken in the mask.

Joan had only spotted the shadow once. He had been looking with all his focus at one spot ahead, trying to discern what was ahead. He had screamed when he saw something and his aura lamp had spluttered from the lapse in concentration. Dexter had held out both his hands in the hallway to keep light in both hallway sides at once.

Joan had said that he was peering in the shadows and then the shadow was just there. He hadn't been there and then he was there. More disturbingly, though, Joan had felt a grin too wide to be kind directed at him and the shadow waved with fingers too long. Joan said that he didn't think it was a kind wave or grin. Dexter didn't think the shadow was nice either. He trusted his instincts and his instincts said that the shadow was bad.

Dexter was starting to doubt that the shadow was a grimm. It was too intelligent. Too ethereal. Too… predatorial. He preferred the cacklers to the shadow really. At least the cacklers were predictable. The shadow was an unknown. Dexter was starting to think that the cacklers didn't go into the west wing because of the shadow.

Dexter and Joan finally made it to the Northern wing in ten minutes. But there was still a problem. "Up, down, or straight…" Dexter mused. Joan looked warily at the basement. Dexter was personally more wary of going up the stairs. Who knows what could be in the rafters. Well, he could be but he wasn't going that far from Joan. An eye behind them at all times was crucial.

"I'm thinking we stay on the ground floor for now." Joan said. Dexter frowned. There could be something in the master bedroom that helped explain this all. May be in the basement they could find a safe place to flare their auras and kill the cacklers through a choke point. They could do it, Dexter was sure. The manor was big but it couldn't have more than a hundred grimm in the ground floors. If they took the ground floor they could whittle the grimm down some more… or they could alert all of the cacklers and have to improvise.

"I say the basement. It's scary, yes, but we could find a choke point and kill the grimm here."

"And what if there are more grimm than we can handle?" Joan asked nervously.

"Then we barricade ourselves in a storage room or something and take watches until we're rested. Then we kill the rest."

"How do you know that we'll have a room to barricade?"

"If there's not one then we'll just not lure them in." Joan looked at the basement in a new light. Dexter glanced back with no small degree of paranoia but he didn't see the shadow.

Joan bit his lip and thought. Dexter waited for him patiently. "Basement." He decided with some finality. It was probably the safest floor in the manor.

Dexter nodded and stood back while Joan went first with his shield ready. Dexter followed soon after. Joan pulled a little on the door. "Locked." He said. Dexter smirked. The grimm might have stayed out if they hadn't broke through the door. He switched places with Joan and unlocked the door easily. Joan took point once more and saw nothing.

Dexter closed the door behind him and locked it again for good measure. A flicker of shadow licked out from the doorframe. Dexter tsked and kicked the door in irritation. Wait… "Joan!" Dexter whispered excitedly. Joan jumped a little and scanned the room before turning to Dexter with a curious look.

"Look." Dexter said with a pointed finger to the door. "He can't get through!" He said in revelation. Dexter nodded. The shadow, seemingly hearing them, tried to slip through the doorway but recoiled at the aura lamps every time.

"Do… do we go on and just let him in or do you think one of us should stay here?" Joan asked curiously.

"Together. If we had four I'd absolutely have two stay but with just us… well, I'm not taking the risk when this could be a trick to make us split up. Or worse, there's another shadow here in the basement that's waiting for one of us alone." Joan nodded. He had probably come to a similar conclusion.

Dexter walked away from the door and the light by the door grew dimmer. The shadow quickly slipped through. It lingered there on the wall and left as quickly. Dexter took a good look at the basement. It seemed extremely dusty for the most part.

"Look." Dexter said with a finger pointed at the floor. "Footprints in the dust." Joan squinted at the floor and frowned when he saw the prints. They were clearly there… and large. Worst of all, though, was the drag marks. Something alive had been dragged away. It had been resisting but only making a mess of the dust.

"Not good. Well, at least we've only got one, right?" Joan said hopefully. Dexter nodded.

"Just one… but these might not be the only prints. Also… they're old." Dexter pointed out with a frown. He slid a finger through the dust and it showed the layer of dust was thicker than they had thought.

"Well… let's follow them." Dexter said. Joan groaned at the idea but he obliged and took point. Dexter formed his bow just in case.

"So what was on your side of the manor anyways?" Joan asked.

"Cacklers." Dexter shivered. Joan did the same.

"My condolences." He said.

"They weren't that bad after I figured out that they were there. If I had been detected then I would be cursing your lucky name." Dexter said plainly. Joan shrugged.

"Well they still suck." Dexter nodded.

Suddenly the footprints stopped. A thick wooden door blocked the way. It was blocked from their side with a thick wooden plank keeping the door locked. "Am I crazy or should we not open this?" Joan said dryly. Dexter was far more concerned with other things.

"The footprints lead here but the door locks from this side. It's keeping something in…" Joan stopped and looked deep into the darkness. Dexter looked the same way. Nothing appeared.

A moment of silence passed. Dexter looked to Joan and raised his fist near the door. Joan looked at him and a silent conversation passed before Joan nodded. Dexter pounded as hard as he could onto the door. A faint roar was heard and the two backed away. The pounding of footsteps came closer and slowed just a little when an intense slew of blows rained onto the door. The roaring grew angrier and the blows continued. The beam of wood held without much pressure.

Dexter backed away from the door and walked away. Screw that. Whatever was there could stay sealed. Joan seemed of the same opinion since he followed Dexter.

The two searched the basement but found no grimm on any sort. Even the shadow was quiet for their exploration. The basement was disappointingly empty. The whole basement consisted of seven rooms and four corridors with doors at the end to lead up to the ground level at the wings.

There was a larder, wine cellar, furnace room, armory, three store rooms, and an empty room. The only rooms worth caring about were the larder, armory, and the empty room. The larder was filled with preserved foods for the most part and any perishable foods were either rotted to nothing or didn't exist in the first place. There was an impressive amount of food. Dexter and Joan did nothing with the food for now but Dexter intended to come back and take some of it to his hoard if he got a chance.

The armory was very low tech but in it was a rare metal Joan called adamantium. It was apparently amazing for bladed weapons and if applied as the edge of a weapon it would make the weapon exponentially more expensive because of how sharp adamantium could be and how it almost never lost it's edge. There were fifteen ingots of it squirreled away. Dexter called dibs on five. Joan didn't really care. He didn't have the hoarder spirit.

The weapons in the armory were either too old to be of any use in combat or too low tech to matter. Joan sorted them into a pile of what's even vaguely useful and what was useless. The first pile was far smaller than the other. Vacuo's metallurgy really was terrible.

The plain room was of the most immediate use because it could be barricaded from the inside. One of the storage rooms was half empty so they could fight there but they could hide in the empty room if they had to. They carried the anvil from the forge in a wheelbarrow from one of the storage rooms to the room to help barricade the door if they wanted to stay in there for a few hours.

The two lit a few torches they made from old cloth and some wood they split in the furnace room to help Joan and his puny human eyesight. The shadow avoided the torchlight but it seemed that it wasn't as potent as the aura light in regards to repelling it.

"Ready?" Dexter asked. Joan nodded gravely. Dexter turned to the door and changed his outfit to his more normal outfit with some extra armor and his mask to be safe. He was getting more used to having a mask on. He also put on a thick bracer on his left forearm. It might not be used at all but it wasn't that hard to make and might be useful.

Dexter took a deep breath of the dusty air and flared his aura.

|-\\\/-|

All throughout the manor grimm felt the aura. They didn't think of why it was there or how. Cacklers laughed their cruel laugh as the raced to the basement stairs. The vampus, large bat-like grimm, abandoned their roosts at the rafters. The mothra did the same in their erratic movements. The greater queen taijitsu in the north wing brought it's basilisks with it. The beast in the dungeon roared louder than it had in half a century at the aura usage. A wooden board, weakened by time and the dampness from evaporated wine, cracked just a little. But it was enough. The beast heard the small crack and redoubled it's efforts with a roar that would deafen others.

An old entity opened it's eyes and looked hungrily to the intruders. It grinned cruelly. The grin kept growing. When it reached the edges of it's face it still grew yet. Finally it stopped. A small raspy chuckle emanate from it as it sunk into the shadows. The small dense patch of shadows lightened and lightened until it was normal once more. Well almost. Every shadow in the room was just the tiniest bit darker than it was before. The entity grinned hauntingly. It would creep into the young soul yet. The hybrid would make no difference. Perhaps a deal could be struck if he couldn't achieve the young soul for itself.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter shot arrows as fast as he could. A vampus fell, it's wing joint pierced. A cackler swatted an arrow out of the air. An aura slash from Joan cut through it's arm and went halfway through it's skull, leaving a crescent shaped wound. More arrows flew.

It had been minutes since the flare and still the grimm came. There was no end to the frenzy. Joan would try to keep them away with his sword and shield but he couldn't do everything and they were slowly being pushed back. Dexter had let loose more arrows than he cared to count but still the grimm would walk over the corpses of their comrades. It was becoming more a mound of corpses since some of the smarter grimm threw their sibling's corpses off to the middle where no grimm leaked through.

Every once and a while Dexter would use one of his most useful aura techniques if not his most used. Arrow of Ares. You stuffed just enough agitated aura into an arrow and let it fly, where it woluld explode upon impact and release some shrapnel. Normally a hunter would have to test the technique on one singular arrow to determine exactly how much aura it could hold and then fire it and lose all of those hours of work on that one arrow. Dexter just memorized the amount of aura for one arrow and remade it whenever he used the attack. It wasn't hard or very aura consuming. Arrows weren't good holders of aura. Metal was typically okay but wood was terrible. It was just tedious and a waste of time for most hunters but Dexter and probably a few others.

Dexter growled audibly as a small taijitsu leapt at him. He dropped his bow and lashed out with his dagger. The taijitsu died. Dexter put the dagger in his offhand and drew his sword. He leapt into the fray with hacks and wide slashes to put down a lot of injuries regardless of the target. He dagger broke a few times under particularly strong blows but Dexter just drew a new one the first time and made another the third.

For an indeterminate amount of time Dexter and Joan fought their way through the hoard. They had been through worse. Damn were they missing Laura, though. Her ice could seal the exits and they could take this more slowly than they were. Rella could make shieldbearers to give them some breathing room. Mancer could toss a few grenades. Well, no use crying over spilled milk.

Dexter and Joan were doing alright on their own. Their area of effect techniques were doing wonders. Dexter only had his blast and arrow of ares. His slash also cut through grimm sometimes, wounding two, which was nice. Joan, though, had crash. It was really just blast directed around him in a circle to push back grimm every once and a while but the sneaky knight was using it constantly at a small intensity to push back the grimm just enough for him to breath a little. Dexter was jealous. He had two weapons so he killed more grimm but he was not having a good time. He had received a generous portion of wounds and they still stung. Joan had used his semblance on him in a few tough spots though so he was forgiven.

Dexter was running on a little over half empty when the tide of grimm had slowed somewhat. Dexter was wondering if the grimm were running out of bodies to throw when a massive taijitsu squeezed through the door to the basement. A Queen, Dexter saw. It had collapsed a tunnel with it's size when it appeared though.

Dexter ran through the grimm to the queen. The queen slithered to him and the grimm parted like a curtain for her. Dexter leapt to the side when a head struck at him. He jumped onto it's crown-like head and the other struck. Dexter leapt towards the base of the necks and, when he was there, sharpened his blade to the extreme and sliced halfway through the neck of the left head. It screeched but couldn't raise it's head now. It had no muscles to pull itself up.

The other head screeched in rage and struck viciously but to no avail. Dexter was too quick. The other grimm tried to be opportunistic and cause injury to Dexter but they were no match for his instincts. They were swiftly dealt with.

The head that had been cut started shrinking into the body. In half a minute the wound was healed and the grimm had grown more powerful. The taijitsu that had lost it's other half was more like a giant snake now. Dexter hissed in annoyance. He hadn't dealt with it fast enough. The taijitsu was furious, the surviving head was stronger from it's fallen companion than it was before, and Joan was busy dealing with the tide.

Dexter took the direct route and ran up to the taijitsu. The snake hissed and spat. Dexter yelped when a little landed on his shoe. Was it's spit always corrosive or was that a new development from it's recent metamorphosis? Either way it hurt.

Dexter continued getting closer and was careful to avoid the acidic spit. A few grimm got in his way and Dexter was a little wounded from having to fight grimm and dodge acid at the same time. His armor had been so useful so far. It saved his aura massively. He should invest in a more heavy fighter for when he needed to be in an extended conflict. Lyra could help with that a lot, Dexter hoped. She was really more of a heavy fighter as well. She certainly wore heavy armor when fighting.

Dexter fumed when his sword broke against an enterprising cackler's claws and maw. That's it. Crowd control was necessary. Dexter sheathed his knife and drew a weapon he didn't often use. A scythe.

In a way Dexter's scythe was beautiful yet simple like most of his weapons. The shaft was rather average except for two important details. It had two circular plates forming a handguard and grip but that was, while uncommon, not terribly surprising. What was of more interest was that the top portion of the shaft had a blade attached to it. A curious design for a scythe.

The blade of it, though, was quite special compared to what Dexter normally did. The blade was thin. Extraordinary so. So thin, in fact, that if looked at directly you might not see it. Despite the size it was shockingly dense to a degree that it took a full half minute to make and that was with days straight of practicing making that one piece of the weapon. Still, the blade was only just the weight of a broadsword. In exchange for the time, though, the thinness had a major benefit that couldn't be passed up. Sharpness.

The scythe's blade pierced armor with frightening ease. Dexter had set it blade first on a rock once and it sunk into the rock. He had pulled it out and only made the cut bigger. Most scythes, rare as they were, were made as thick as an axe. This was because they had to hold against armor infused with aura, which would block the blade. No matter how good your aura control or how much aura you used a blade that thin would break when striking an object that wouldn't bend or be pierced.

Grimm didn't have such an advantage as aura though. They had armor and flesh. The very things the blade was designed solely to cut and pierce. The weapon couldn't be used to defend at all. It would break likely under a single blow to anything but the shaft. The blade would break under anything but pure armor or flesh. In other words, the scythe could ONLY be used against grimm and never could it be used for defense. Dexter didn't have any defense at all while using the scythe. No shield. No weapon to block with. He had armor, he supposed, but armor as your only defense was rather flimsy. The only way to not be hurt was to not be hit. Dexter used the aura blast attack extensively to dodge blows from foes that he couldn't conventionally dodge. It was incredibly fun to mow down grimm but the attacks were a pain in the ass.

Dexter used the scythe only when he needed absolute offense and above average speed, had aura to spare for aura blasts and regeneration, when he was fighting grimm, and his extensive armory of aura techniques couldn't be drawn on to deal with a situation that specific, and when somebody else couldn't do it. Even then he could use his more preferred swords for a task his scythe could do.

So why was Dexter doing it now? Well… grimm to kill, aura wasn't really needing of rationing, he didn't have any aura techniques of sufficient area to deal with the hoard, and he had the room to perform the area heavy techniques a scythe required.

Also, dashing around with a scythe was FUN!

Dexter chuckled menacingly as he formed his scythe. He barely noticed as his glare activated. The grimm felt a shiver up their spines at the glare. Joan saw Dexter making his scythe and flared his aura a little to attract attention. Dexter fought off a few grimm with his knife and finished with his scythe.

Dexter happily twirled his scythe without much strength. The grimm in front of him fell down, cleanly bisected even through it's armor. The blade had met no resistance whatsoever, as intended.

Dexter advanced swiftly and danced with his scythe. The nearly paper thin blade sang even over the howls of the hoard. The Taijitsu paused as it saw it's brethren getting ripped apart by the dozens by the man who had before been getting overwhelmed.

A claw swiped at Dexter behind. Dexter dropped down and pirouetted in a crouch. His blade softly, almost gently, parted the ankles of the cacklers and various grimm that had been swarming over him. They fell to the floor and another move of a similar variety severed more limbs to make the monsters useless or dead.

Dexter saw Joan dealing with his own problems and, having made a gap, happily made his way to Joan in a swarm of blood and a small blast of aura. The five cacklers Joan was facing became one crippled one that was very confused. A dart of his sword finished it and Joan took a small breather as Dexter swung his scythe like a maelstrom of a blade. The grimm were panicking as the pressure they were putting on Joan began to fade. The grimm that attacked Dexter hoping for a regaining of their foothold were calmly dismembered. The taijitsu that were met were sliced from the corners of their mouths to their tails. Cackler limbs flew to different directions and their necks flashed white before spurting the black blood of the grimm that evaporated practically midair.

In minutes the playing field was leveled and the greater taijitsu was nearly alone apart from a few stragglers. The grimm in the manor were but a percentage of what they once were. A hefty portion of them had just been taken out in Dexter's elegant rampage. Well, it was only elegant because his scythe parted grimm like a sword through water but he had made the weapon himself so credit where credit was due. It would be more impressive if Dexter hadn't been at a quarter of his aura. He used quite a few aura blasts.

Dexter approached the taijitsu with a particularly large aura blast and dodged the spit neatly this time. He had so much more room now! The taijitsu retreated a bit and released acid in sprays. Dexter was a bit more careful with those.

Soon Dexter was at the greater taijitsu's head. He blasted himself upwards as he jumped and he slashed mightily through the beast's jaw. The scythe went halfway through and Dexter fell back down. The snake screamed and acid gushed and fizzled on the basement floor. Dexter slashed a little more at the body and the snake flailed as it felt it's life fade. Dexter saw an opportunity and blasted quickly across the floor. He hopped with his momentum and twisted in a great slash. The scythe ripped through the dense bone skull of the taijitsu easily. Dexter at least felt some resistance this time. Not much but some.

The taijitsu wheezed and fell limp. It moved a little as if grasping to it's life. Dexter approached it calmly and raised his scythe. He didn't so much bring the scythe down as let the weight of the blade draw the scythe downwards onto the taijitsu's head. The blade sunk deep and the taijitsu fell still and began sublimating to the typical mist.

For a moment Dexter stood still and basked in the victory. Then he fell to the ground spitting and cursing. "OW! OH MOTHER THAT STINGS AND IS THAT CUT GOING ACROSS MY WHOLE BACK?! AGH! IT ITCHES!" Joan chuckled as Dexter grimaced and endured the feeling of his wounds healing.

When Dexter stopped whining he rubbed his wounds that were quickly becoming less than scars and looked around the room. The whole room was shrouded in black mist. It was rather hard to see actually. It was that dense. It mostly fell to near the ground, though. This led to Dexter and Joan being up to their calves in thick black mist. The bodies of grimm and their dismembered parts smoked and were disappearing by the second.

The bodies of the grimm were varied. Predominantly were minor taijitsus, cacklers, vampus', and mothras. There were other grimm mixed in as well. Some beowolves, an ursa, some minor deathstalkers (deathstalkers the size of a beowolf roughly), some alpha variants, and a few more rare grimm. Biggest of them all was the greater taijitsu. It was bigger in circumference than when it was a queen, which made it look quite impressive. It's fangs dripped acid onto the floor, forming a corrosive puddle.

Having an idea Dexter ran around the room and got an assortment of large chemically treated jars in an adjacent storeroom. He had noticed them in an old chemistry set that was never properly put away. Someone just threw a blanket over the tools. He bottled up some of the acid and cheered inwardly when the acid failed to dissolve the glass. Dexter captured as much as he could and did the same for the minor deathstalkers.

Dexter also noticed that the jars could hold the smoke from the deceased grimm. It suddenly struck him… was the gas essence? Essence acted like a gas after all. Would it be a stretch to say that essence vessels dissolved after death? Or became raw essence, at any rate.

Dexter gathered the rest of the jars and stored as much of the possible essence as he could. The not-chemically treated jars worked just as well for the holding of essence. Dexter stored the jars as full as he could and hid them away where nobody would find them. He just hoped he wouldn't forget they were there either.

Dexter decided that if he was catching the black mist he may as well go all out. He ferreted out other glassware and stored them as well. Joan looked at him oddly but shrugged it off as him being weird again.

Dexter was looking around when he found the motherlode of all big glassware. A giant barrel made of black glass. Dexter's first thought at seeing it was why the hell somebody would make a barrel made of glass. Then he opened it. The first thing that hit him was the stench.

Dexter dumped the contents of the barrel in a small hole in the stone wall and covered the hole up. God, what was that? Sulfur mixed with vomit? Either way Dexter filled the barrel with the gas and stored it away with the faint hope that the smell would go away. It probably wouldn't.

Dexter sat down with his scythe he had made earlier and looked at the blade closely. Not even nicked. Good. He was worried that he had done it incorrectly since he had only made one a few months ago. It was a good thing that he had just about all of his weapons down to muscle memory.

Joan had finished breathing heavily and had gotten up. "Shall we-" A huge crash rang out through the basement. Both hunters stood completely still and stared at the source of the sound. A dark corridor. It wasn't lit by torches like the storerooms. It went to… Oh dear.

Dexter checked his aura. Maybe… fifteen percent? "Joan, aura."

"Ten percent. Lower maybe."

"I'm at fifteen." Joan didn't talk but started walking to the panic room. Dexter followed silently.

They entered the panic room and Dexter had a thought. Just a small worry in the back of his mind. Instinct whispered urgently. They hadn't lit the panic room and it was pretty dark come to think of it. Dexter's eyes widened when he looked at Joan. He was looking a little darker skinned. Just a little. Dexter lit his aura lamp as bright as he could. The room was bathed in violet. For a brief moment a form was clearly visibly. Unnaturally long black clawed hands. The grin too wide for a face. Tall. Too tall. At least nine feet. More around ten. A Joan and a half to be accurate. His long arms were about one Joan long.

Dexter stared into the cruelest eyes he had ever seen. One eye a green like the coldest emeralds and one like the bloodiest rubies. He had black sclera like his mother. His teeth were pitch black like the sky at night. His skin a smoky black that if you looked closely moved slightly. It reminded Dexter of the grimm smoke he had just been collecting. It wasn't as dark as his teeth, which seemed to absorb light. His veins under his skin bulged slightly and were as black as his teeth.

The thing that wasn't his mother looked to Dexter with utter hate. Or maybe the thing always looked that way. The grin grew more savage.

Joan was frozen to his spot. Utterly frozen. He shook in his boots like he was dying of frostbite. He lost his normal noble stature that seemed natural to him and he hunched a little. Just a small draw of his shoulders together but it was so… Un-Joan like that Dexter needed a moment to check his eyes. Then he realized… Joan's eyes were empty. Devoid of life. But he was unharmed. Physically.

A force seemed to press on Dexter almost physically. Something in Dexter apart from his instincts urged him to do something. He listened and he **GLARED.** As hard as he could. The thing flinched just a tiny bit. A twitch of the eye really. Then it laughed slowly. Even it's laugh was cruel beyond belief.

Dexter gripped his scythe as the thing rasped. _"Hello… kinsman."_ Then it was gone. The moment was over. Joan gasped and fell to the ground crying. Genuinely crying. Dexter kept his aura bright as he could. He kept Joan cose and barred the door. He pushed the anvils to the ground in front of the door rather than stack them, as that would require Joan. The door somewhat barred Dexter looked to Joan. He had fallen to the wall and slid downwards. His aura was dimly lit. Joan wasn't scared beyond action it seemed.

Dexter sat down cross legged and his breath caught as a mighty blow struck the barred door. They were trapped with the monstrous thing and a strong grimm beyond the door that was breaking the door down. Joan was temporarily useless, He had no idea how long the door would hold, backup wasn't coming, and above all…

Dexter was scared.

|-\\\/-|

The pounding had been constant for an hour now. Dexter had eventually gotten around to stacking the anvils as a proper barricade but he made sure to never take his eyes off of Joan. He had toned his sobbing down after ten minutes and was focusing on calming down. He had done well but still wasn't in the shape to do anything other than keep watch with his aura lamp in case the thing comes back.

Dexter's aura was nearing two thirds now. Joan had mumbled that he was roughly half full when Dexter prodded him a little.

It had been decided that they would keep watch until either the door broke down or their auras were both full. Now it was looking to be the first option since the wooden beam was cracking. "Get to the torchlight if they're still lit. If not then we run. Let me deal with the grimm for a moment and I'll follow you out. Joan nodded weakly. He knew he wasn't in any shape mentally to fight. He needed a few days off and a drink. Probably some sleep after spending what amounted to a whole night awake under stress and fighting. Dexter was impressed that he was still awake. Then again, Joan always had the second most endurance after Dexter.

The beam splintered and Dexter flinched. He really didn't want to fight. He was tired of it. The bean splintered a little harder this time. An excited snuffling was heard outside the door. Another blow. The beam kept splintering. A pause occurred. Footsteps. Dexter quirked an ear. Footsteps pounded against the stone floor and the door erupted n a blast. The anvils in front of it stayed strong but not for long.

A mass of black reached to the anvils and pushed them back. Dexter could barely move one and the mass of black just casually pushed them away. How irritating. All that work for nothing.

Dexter readied his bow and an arrow of ares at the open door. A hulking form entered the room and Dexter fired at it's face. THe arrow boomed against the creature's maw and it roared. Finally Dexter got a clear view of it. A minotaur. It was exactly what it sounded like. Fifteen feet tall and absolutely stuffed with muscles. It's eyes glared balefully at Dexter and looked to Joan hungrily. It wasn't very armored but to consider that it's hide wan't as tough as steel would be foolhardy. Minotaurs were powerful grimm. Not the nuisances that beowolves were but a grimm to warrant a team of A classes or an S class. A team of B's with a trap would work as well. In a dungeon-like basement where it was blocking the only exit? Well, the grimm wouldn't be killed.

The creature charged at the duo and Joan ran to the creature's right. It looked to catch Joan but a pelting of arrows of ares from Dexter distracted it from him. It wasn't very wounded even though all of the arrows hit it.

Dexter discarded his bow and drew his scythe. The creature scuffed it's hooves against the floor and charged. Dexter readied an aura blast and let it draw close. As it was close enough to grab Dexter he detonated the blast and shot towards the grimm's shoulder. The minotaur roared as it's arm was cut deep through the muscle. Dexter ignored it and ran to the door, where Joa had already left.

Looking at the outside of the thick door it as clear that the minotaur had been working at it a long time. The beast had left a slew of dents in the door. Two of the hinges were clear torn off the door. The bottom one was barely hanging on.

Dexter, having a brief idea, sliced his scythe through the door in a flurry of blows. The wall crumbled to the hole but did not fall. Dexter growled and launched a blast to the wall above the door and it fell with a crash. The minotaur roared at being trapped yet again. Dexter smirked just a little and ran away.

A half a minute later as Dexter was running he heard the triumphant roar of the minotaur escaping. He continued running to get out of the basement. Ah! The doors at the ends of the stairs! They could trap the beat in the basement if he could get to all four of them!

Dexter ran up the stairs to the north wing and closed the door hurriedly. He didn't bother to move the bone he used to pick the lock. He just left it there. It might dissuade treasure hunters if any were stupid enough to come in here.

Dexter left the north wing to the east wing in a blast. He had to be quick. The corridors were empty. It would be concerning if Dexter and Joan hadn't killed all of the grimm. As it was Dexter ra as fast as he could through the wing searching for the stairs.

After a minute of searching at top speed Dexter found the stairs in the back of a kitchen. He locked it and ran through the wings. He passed through the courtyard and found the east wing. The wing was mostly filled with amenities such as a training room, ballroom, and a theatre. Dexter suspected the theatre as his first location to search for the door.

Dexter growled as he entered the theatre. A massive arachne had staked the room as her nest. The spiders likely had built their nest and sealed off the exit somehow. It didn't matter. Dexter didn't have the time to fight the arachne. He just had to hope that they spun web over the basement door or that it was locked in the first place.

A Dexter ran back to the south entrance he wondered what was even in the south wing. To his knowledge there was nothing but empty rooms. The east wing had guest rooms and servant quarters, the North wing was like a house inside a house with some of everything including master bedrooms, and the west wing had entertainment and amenities. So… what was the south wing for? He and Joan had entered through the south wing but he hadn't seen anything and Joan probably hadn't either.

Dexter ignored the possibilities for now and ran as fast as he could to the south wing. A cackler that had somehow missed the flare and the exodus of grimm to the basement tried to ambush him but a flip and a slash of his scythe barely slowed him down.

Dexter tore through the south wing but there were no rooms of note. Some spare rooms were there but they were empty. Twice more Dexter frantically searched the rooms but there was nothing.

A pounding of footsteps brought Dexter to a stop. The minotaur had gotten loose and it was pissed. Dexter decided quickly on a course of action and got as stealthy as he could. If the minotaur got loose and went to Vacuo or the Mistral/Mantle camp it would be… bad. Very bad. Or it could just wander the woods and attack every passerby and merchant caravan with other grimm. That could cause just as much damage.

Dexter leveled his scythe handle on the ground and applied pressure. The handle creaked and snapped. A little tinkering and the blade was a sort of absurdly thin hookbill blade that curved too much. It was big and it stayed sharp. A dagger wouldn't kill the minotaur. It was far too big. A scythe was too unwieldy to work as a stealth weapon. A sword would work fine. Dexter had tried one as a stealth weapon and it worked fine if it wasn't too long. The blade wasn't ideal but it was his best bet.

Dexter heard a crashing and a tumbling of stone. He'd investigate that later. For now he would wait for the minotaur. He flared his aura and hid in a spare room. Footsteps pounded and the minotaur was soon there. It snuffled and bashed away at some random objects. It seemed that it hadn't detected Dexter yet. The grimm turned it's back and Dexter charged as quietly as he could. He jumped onto the wall and jumped off with an aura blast onto the back of the grimm. The beast roared and flailed but Dexter let loose a vicious hack onto the grimm's back. The strike struck deep and cleanly came back out again.

The minotaur turned quickly to Dexter and attacked furiously. Dexter looked carefully for an opening but saw none. So he ran. The grimm roared and chased his prey. It was faster than Dexter so he ducked into an adjascent room and struck with his blade at the minotaur's ankles. It couldn't stop it's momentum so it's foot was severed and it fell to the ground. It's focus didn't waver for even a moment though. It punched through the doorframe and Dexter wasn't fast enough to dodge. He was punched hard and he flew back through the window of all places. He tumbled onto the grass outside. He was too injured to move. Maybe all of the bones in his chest broken and internal organs punctured by the fragments. His legs weren't looking so hot either.

The minotaur pounded down the door and managed to squeeze through the door. It dragged itself further and breathed deeply and furiously when it's chest was stabbed by the shattered glass. It still continued to drag itself towards Dexter. Dexter had somewhat healed. Enough to crawl through great pain anyways.

The minotaur tumbled through the window and roared weakly as it tore open wounds on the jagged glass of the window. Still it wasn't dead. Dexter could say that he respected it. Even if it was stupid.

Dexter pushed himself hard and staggered upwards. His legs buckled twice but he managed it. He stumbled away from the grimm across the courtyard. The minotaur followed slowly. It was just barely faster than Dexter.

The minotaur started catching up and Dexter sped up to a shambling run. He tripped once but he was faster now. The grimm roared but it was somewhat gurgly. Blood in it's throat perhaps.

Dexter leaned against the wall of the courtyard and formed a spear slowly. He stood up again, which he could do without severe pain now, and threw the spear at the minotaur. It landed in it's shoulder and the beast whined in pain. Dexter growled back in a challenge. He formed his bow and shot arrows at the beast's eyes. It took a few shots since he was still borderline crippled from his injuries but he managed. The minotaur reached towards Dexter with a shuddering hand. It had lost a foot, had two severe gashes across it's back and shoulder, had lost one eye and had blood in another, it had heavy bruises from the arrows of ares Dexter had shot earlier, and it's face was littered with cuts and arrows that sunk deep.

The grimm's arm fell to the ground and the grimm grabbed the ground angrily. It's arm twitched but didn't move. The minotaur had lost too much blood. It looked with a tired hate at Dexter. He formed a sword somewhat sloppily and walked towards the minotaur. It wasn't even harmful now. It had been defeated.

Dexter raised his sword with some ceremonial dignity and brought it down as strongly as he could onto the grimm's neck. The grimm stilled and fell limp. Dexter stood still and watched with some awe as the grimm finally died. He laid down on the back of the grimm and breathed happily. It was over. The sun on Dexter's back felt nice.


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: This is a shorter chapter than usual but you got a long one last time so no complaining. It's from Dexter's POV at first but it goes to Lyra's pretty quickly. I was a bit torn on whether this was an interlude or not but… meh. I've been a bit loose and fast with this story so far so I'll keep up that trend. Enjoy.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 27**

 **The clan**

It was hours later that Dexter was pulling a wagon loaded to the brim with goodies headed to Lyra. He had looted the manor for all it was worth. He didn't think that the thing was still there but he kept his aura lamp on nonetheless. He had found so many precious metals that it was getting quite honestly ridiculous. He would just dump them on Lyra. She had a clan to take care of, after all. He actually questioned his habit of finding treasure everywhere now. The camps in the eastern sanus were understandably pretty bare but over so much time it just added up. The manor, on the other hand, was loaded with goodies. No dust, though. Nobody really used dust until thirty years or so ago.

Dexter had found only a few things he actually cared to keep. A few of the mysterious trinkets he valued so and some of the prettier of the jewelry. Platinum and silver mixed well aesthetically, he found. He had taken a liking to a few of the art pieces. A marble statue of a woman riding a horse was quite nice. The woman had long flowing hair that when in the marble was nice to look at. He would give that to Laura, he thought. Wait second… something just clicked.

Joan had never actually told him why he had been brought along for drinks and then the crazy mission. He had also taken Dexter out right after he had fought with Laura. Joan hadn't talked about Laura once in his fake drunken chatter either. Not even once had he mentioned her when he could have either. He had instead dragged Dexter off to do anything but stop and think until he had to. Joan had dragged him off to distract him from Laura.

Joan was officially the best friend Dexter could have. Ever. There was no better best friend. Laura had fallen a lot as of late. Besides, she was a girl friend (Not romantic). Guy friends were completely different. Not even in the same ballpark. Joan was there for Dexter and he hadn't even realized.

Dexter paused in his pulling of his cart for a moment. He cracked a smile, which, as an ursa major, probably looked intimidating. He had had a few caravans of merchants look at the cart he was pulling with bulging and incredulous eyes. At least he had the good sense to cover up the wagon with two tarps. They were both ripped so he used two. Huntsmen looked wary but also incredibly confused. They didn't attack him because the scene was just too weird to think that they weren't just drugged out of their minds.

Eventually Dexter had gotten close to the Mistral camp. He had stored the cart deep in the woods as best he could because he couldn't carry the cart as a faunus. It was too heavy. He wrote a note of where it was for Lyra and her clan and he separated the items he liked and stored them in a different cache. His personal cache was about a fourth of the whole treasure pile. Joan's ingots were still at the manor. He donated about three of them to the clan.

Having a devious idea Dexter smirked and worked for three hours in the forest. His prank evolved as he worked. It became a fantastic present to Lyra as he came back. She would without a doubt love this. He needed to move the treasure but it was worth it without a doubt. When he was finished he chuckled darkly and finally flew in as a small nevermoore.

Dexter peeked into Lyra's room and didn't see her around. He considered looking for her the conventional way, by asking around, but it would be more fun to surprise her.

It took a few minutes to find Lyra. She was sitting in the common room eating lunch. Waffles. They smelled really good.

Dexter sneaked in easily enough. He ended up in the metal beams above the room as a cat. Really, why does nobody look up? Or have these rafters? They were so easy to sneak around on, though using metal as rafters was pretty fancy. They were almost always wood. He looked down at the food. He was rather enchanted with the food so he thought of a playful way to mess with Lyra.

When Lyra turned to talk to a few of her clansmen Dexter lengthened his claws and made a fishhook at the end of a long and thin stick. He stretched the hook down and snagged Lyra's waffle when she wasn't paying attention and quickly zipped it up to him.

Almost everyone in the mess hall had clearly seen the cat use a hook spear to steal their clan leader's last waffle of course. Even for the Valkyrie clan, though, this was weird. Super weird. They stared at Dexter with that look that was becoming more and more familiar. That "How out of it am I?" look that showed such disbelief at the situation that they could easily dismiss it as a hallucination if it wasn't happening right now.

"Of cou-... who stole my waffle?" Lyra stopped and stared at her clanmates. "I'm not that mad really. If one of you have converted to the way of the waffle I'll happily teach you to cease your heathenous ways but I do need to know so I can punish you or show you the way." Dexter happily munched on the waffle. It was nice and crispy and the syrup, which was fantastic, had soaked into the bread. There used to be a cream of some sort, he could tell. He sadly didn't have any. It was really good. Dexter retreated a little to get out of sight.

"The cat from the heavens stole it." A young boy said with a pointed finger upwards. Laura stared in bafflement at the boy and looked up just in case. Nope. Nothing.

"What?" She asked. "No really. Tell me so I can steal yours. By force if necessary." Nobody looked surprised at this declaration.

"We all saw it." A guy next to her said seriously. "Unless we're all hallucinating a suicidal heterochromic cat with a necklace spearing your last waffle with a hook spear." Dexter stopped eating for a second when they mentioned suicidal but ignored it. Lyra couldn't be THAT bad… but wow these waffles were spectacular. Totally worth getting beat up. The syrup was a little too sweet for him though but that wasn't a very big deal compared to how heavenly they were.

One of Lyra's more proactive clansmen with an electricity producing semblance raised her fingers and shot a tiny bolt of lightning to the rafters. Having the electricity spread out through the whole lattice of beams and have to go through Dexter's padded paws lightened the amperage a lot but it still was surprising and stung. Dexter yelped and hopped from the shock.

"Dexter get your ass down here!" Dexter did no such thing. He peeked his head over and saw Lyra looking in irritation at him. He pulled back and grabbed his note he had written in his jaws. He then tossed it over the edge and ran.

|-\\\/-|

 **Lyra's POV**

Lyra glared at the note that Dexter dropped before fleeing from his crimes, the coward. It read:

 _Dear Lyra,_

 _I've put a cache of treasure in the edge of the woods due east. I also trapped the forest (non-lethally of course) and released a few grimm of some power into the forest. You should be able to handle them easily enough even on your own but I'll keep an eye on your clan. I feel that this will be a good way to introduce myself to the clan if you want to do so. Have fun. Oh, and I'll be laughing at you all the whole time._

 _-Dexter White_

He had stolen her waffles. He must pay. Obviously she wasn't going to kill him or anything. She wasn't that petty. However, that waffle was the LAST waffle. The last waffle of the day. It had been soaking in the syrup she collected herself and was at the perfect temperature.

If Dexter had been brought to the way of the waffle then it wouldn't even be too much better. She had been planning a mandatory conversion to the way of the waffle into the wedding vows anyways. He hadn't had a choice from the beginning. However, that he had taken the waffle willingly unto himself was good. She wouldn't want to be like his obsessive friend Laura. She shivered at the thought. That was a rather disturbing mental state to think about. Maybe dangerous too if Laura was powerful, which she probably was. She had been told she was an honorary commander by Freya and supposedly a really powerful one.

Anyways, right now she had to figure this scavenger hunt of Dexter's out.

"Listen up!" Lyra shouted in her leader voice. The clan instantly paid attention. "We have been challenged! Nearly insulted! As you all know I am courting a man by the name of Dexter White." A few sparse murmurs of acknowledgement and agreement drifted through the clan. "What most of you did not know is his semblance. He has the ability to do several things but most important right now is the ability to change forms."

"Dexter states in this note that he has a cache of treasure in the woods - and that in all likelihood means VERY valuable goods - that are guarded by non-lethal traps and some few grimm of low danger." The murmurs grew excited. Lyra grinned inside. She was excited too."He has challenged us and claims that we will be embarrassed and laughed at by him personally. This cannot be allowed to happen. If we must annihilate every grimm in the forest to get at his loot we shall because we are not some common clan! We are VALKYRIES! We are lean mean fighting machines and a few grimm and embarrassing traps will not intimidate us! Nor will we leave treasure for the taking by some random hooligan! As clan leader I will lead you to the sweet loots and a chance to kick ass! Let's go!"

The clan cheered and some whistles rang out. They rushed away to get into armor and weapons and Lyra made one last announcement. "We leave in fifteen minutes! Finish your business and grab those who weren't around to hear this."

A small grin went onto Lyra's face as she strided to her room to put on her armor and weapons. This would be fun not just for her but everyone. Some people had gotten injured after the raids from Valean huntsmen. Some almost killed. The clan needed a lighthearted moment like this to relax. Dexter was such a good catch.

He had just made one calculation wrong. He had taunted the Valkyrie clan. Sure they weren't the strongest or the most powerful or the most influential. They didn't have the best crafters or contracts or equipment. They didn't even have a strong lineage. Hell, the clan had started fie generations ago after a Temptest Valkyrie, a wandering huntress, had returned the king's pet puppy. Their only claim to some fame was a strong pattern of electricity based semblances.

What they did have, though, was something widely known. It was a good reason why an all out fight was something everyone edged away from. It was possibly the biggest trait of the clan that brought them so much reputation and victory across Mistral.

They were a goddamn family and that was stronger than any blow. Dexter was about to find that out firsthand.

|-\\\/-|

The clan had assembled in almost full. Some of the older members, those too injured from a skirmish, or others with one reason or another, had politely refused. Lyra didn't mind. This was about nine tenths of the clan anyways. Freya and a few others had gone to spread the word that no the clan wasn't striking out but doing a large scale drill. They got a few complaints but nobody really minded. People had grown numb to their exploits by now.

She stood in her armor with her battleaxe planted headfirst on the ground. A smile was shown on her lips. It showed the clan that they weren't going to war or anything. Her armor was quite nice as armors go. A polished breastplate, greaves, and bracers that went up to her shoulder. They used a more dependable variant of the transforming metalworks that were popping up to connect the long bracers and greaves to the breastplate and soft leather or occasionally cloth at the joints. She wore a winged helmet as well. She looked an imposing warrior with some elegance as well. It was a hard look to pull off for her.

"Everyone!" The light chatter fell silent. "Stay within groups of two minimum or eight maximum for safety. This is a game for both us and Dexter but there are grimm and thus a small element of danger. The game will take place within the eastern forest ONLY. Lastly… have fun. This is going to be great." The clan whooped and cheered. Lyra waved her hand to the forest and the clan excitedly charged to the forest. Ten seconds later the whole clan was fallen into pits full of mud, hanging by vines in the air, immobilised by some various wood contraptions, or in one case dropped into a pit that shrunk as it got deeper and looking like a cone. All of her valkyries that were trapped in there fell towards the center and pigpiled together.

Lyra looked on with embarrassment and some awe at the effectiveness of some of the traps. One poor fellow was sitting on another fellow's face. That ought to be awkward. The pit pile was writhing as people tried to get out. Then she spied Dexter looking at her with a smirk on his face holding a bucket of water by the pit pile. "Dexter…" Lyra said calmly. "Do it."

… What? They had gotten trapped in there! They deserved it! Hell, one girl saw the trap and jumped in anyways thinking it looked fun! Admittedly it did look pretty fun down there. There were some people laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Well, until they saw Dexter. A chorus of "Nononono" came from the pit but Dexter gave them a merry smile and tossed the bucket of water down on them. Some swearing, laughing, screams, and random noises came from the pit. Some people were also getting somewhat muddy as well.

Lyra laughed at the pit people herself and smiled at Dexter. He waved back before hopping away behind a tree and was going to be a fun trip. Maybe this could become a thing! Like forest games! She'd have to ask Dexter about it.

|-\\\/-|

Laura yelped as she stepped into another snare that tried to drag her upwards. She whipped her spare dagger from her side and severed the line but it still surprised her. Where had Dexter learned these traps?! They were absurd! They worked so well though… She had split up from the others a while ago.

Dexter was no doubt messing with the others from his vantage points. He had been kind about the traps, though. He would drop a doll of his for some of the people that were doing really poorly and looking rather miserable. He also shot an arrow in front of them or something of the sort to ward them away from traps if he felt exceptionally kind.

He sometimes dropped weapons as well. They were made of bone but they were often exceedingly sharp and well made. She herself hadn't found any but she was curious about them. She had felt and tried a bone warhammer one of her comrades had found and she admitted that it was very well made. Balanced, heavy at the head, and light at the handle while still pretty durable. They were good weapons. Best of all, though, they channeled aura fantastically!

People could channel aura through bones and flesh in their bodies easily so it was no surprise that they could channel through weapons made of bone as well. Lyra was looking to get one or two herself despite only having three aura techniques. She wondered what one could do with armor made of bone. The Valkyrie clan had a few clan techniques they had acquired over the years but never really used. Dexter might like those. He had used a ton of aura techniques in their spar so he was probably one of those people. Lyra could never get a hang of most of them and only knew a few rather basic ones and one sort of intermediate one.

The grimm had been pretty light too. Minor taijitsu were common as usual but there were some salamanders and a few king taijitsu as well. There had been a deathstalker around as well but it wasn't a huge danger. It wasn't an elder or gods forbid an emperor. There had been five of her Valkyries around to deal with it at least. The worst grimm had been a nest of tombstalkers. Dexter had shot a storm of arrows at them when they were revealed so it wasn't bad but a lady had gotten her blouse torn. Dexter called out a sorry and tossed her a few different types of clothes and a pair of silver topaz earrings. They were really nice earrings and the material that made the blouse seemed pretty comfortable although the black color clashed with the previously white blouse. The lady forgave him and seemed almost thankful that she had fallen into the nest.

Lyra pulled the lady aside when she saw the blush on the lady's face. She acknowledged it pretty easily but warned Lyra that other ladies might not have her restraint given Dexter's good looks, strength, wealth, and generally being amazing really. Lyra agreed and decided to call a women's meeting tonight to make her claim clear in a more… specific fashion.

As the clan seemed to reach the deepest part of the forest excited shouts rang out. Lyra jogged towards the noise and her eyes widened comically almost. Sitting there suspended by plant fibers were at least a hundred bracelets, necklaces, rings, and jewelry of all types in a massive field under a lone tree in the middle of said tree. The jewels and shiny metals gleamed like stars in the rays of sunshine. Around the field beams of colored light of all kinds splayed out like a rainbow shattered into a hundred beautiful pieces.

In the biggest beam of light under the tree lay a massive pile of treasure flanked by broadswords and spears of bone planted into the ground. The beams of colored light coming off this pile were rather blinding actually. Worth it. This was without a doubt one of the most beautiful scenes Lyra had ever seen.

The only thing stopping her clan of muddied, embarrassed, and grinning hunters from advancing to reap the rewards was the long line of swords planted in a line in the dirt and the tall and wiry man with a spear planted into the ground. He wore a heroic looking cloak with bone pauldrons. A cuirass lay snugly on his chest over a leather jerkin with greaves and bracers. Black leather mended all of the gaps in the armors with some more miscellaneous pieces scattered in the armor set. He wore a mask of a regal looking beowolf upon his face.

This was obviously Dexter. Anyone could tell. Lyra stood still and gestured for her clan to stay back. Over the next minute the rest of the clan entered the crowd and awed at the idyllic scene as if from a fairy tale.

Lyra took several steps forward and asked proudly: "Dexter White! Are you here to grant us our rightfully earned bounty?" Dexter looked at them with amusement in his beautiful eyes clearly shown. He still spoke regally despite this. "I stand here not for you, fair Valkyrie of the storm." Oooh, Lyra liked that title. It sounded dramatic. "You have twice over proven you possess the talent and persona to receive the gifts that lie here. I stand here in requirement for your clan to prove themselves."

The clan murmured surprisedly at the proclamation. "I have observed your clan as they journeyed through the hallowed forest-" Lyra barely kept her laugh at that. Hallowed? Well maybe by some kind of trickster god. Some of those traps were absurdly devious. "-and I stand here unimpressed." The murmurs got irritated. They had trekked through those traps! They deserves something!

"You have arrived here, true, but you are mudded, torn of the dignity of your robes, and sapped of energy. I ask of you, are you worthy of such treasure as this in such a state?" Dexter gestured grandly to the hoard of shining treasure. The silence that followed was telling. They were holding their breath for a verdict to be announced. A point to be made.

"... I see you hold no arrogance. Good." The clan smiled just a little bit collectively. That was true. They weren't puffed up or pompous like some of the other clans. "But I have heard tales of the Valkyrie clan. I fail to see you show this trait. I have heard the stories of your valor, strength, and spirit. I ask of you… DO YOU HAVE VALOR?!"

The clan roared a confirmation and hefted their weapons to the air.

"DO YOU HAVE STRENGTH?!"

The roars grew louder. Lyra had to hand it to Dexter, he was a pretty good public speaker. Not as good as others or herself but he had a sort of natural talent to it that others didn't have. It helped that he had her backing, that her clan was easily excitable, and that he had a gleaming pile of loot that people were rearing to get at.

"AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL! … DO. YOU. HAVE. SPIRIT?!"

The roars doubled in volume. People pounded their weapons to the dirt and roared their confirmation at Dexter's questioning. Lyra smiled brilliantly. Not that anybody but Dexter could see it. She was so proud of her clan.

"THEN COME FORTH CHILDREN OF THE STORM DAUGHTERS! PROVE YOUR CLAIMS AND DEFEAT ME TO SHOW YOUR SPIRITS!"

Lyra's clan surged forth in a stampede from behind her. They cried a battlecry and Lyra laughed. She was so happy! Her clan, the people that mattered most to her, was more united than ever at the moment. Dexter had united her clan in a way not often seen. Especially without causing hardship. She didn't even care about the gold and stuff. Sure it was useful but keeping her people happy and more than anything united was so much more important.

She was definitely falling for him. She hoped so dearly to keep him for a few days after this.

 **Omake:**

The year is… well… it doesn't matter. Dexter had been through many trials and battles over the years. He was what? Eighty four roughly. Maybe he was off a year or three but that hardly matters. It's not like the date will be known when remnant falls to pieces.

"Back off! He's mine!" The girl in yellow, what was her name? Yang? He had only known her for a minute. Anyways, she lunged at him with lust in her eyes and he stepped aside with a block.

"Never!" A massive red scythe cleaved through the masses of girls pursuing him. "We're going going to go on dates! Bake cookies! See a movie! Go to a hotel room and cuddle!" Ah Ruby. She had been quite nice to be around though a bit annoying and too innocent to relax around. He had taught her a few moves in the scythe and they had met enough to maybe become friends in the eyes of some though Dexter wouldn't call them that personally.

"Little sis, you don't have the _guns_ to get a guy like him." A coy glance and a wink clearly showed what Yang meant. Ruby gasped at the insult.

"Neither of you are right!" The girl in white, oh Weiss. He only met her once briefly. "Blake and I have an agreement."

"We're sharing him." Blake - wait who was she? He hadn't even met her… wait, she was that girl who was stalking him that one time… and that other time. Right…

"You can't fight both of us together! Leave us to our true and pure love!" Weiss declared proudly. A grimace from Ruby and Yang showed an agreement. They seemed to forget that he wasn't really interested in dating.

"Children, really." A voice said exasperatingly. "Quit talking and act as we adults are." A glance showed the woman with blond hair and the purple cape he had seen from a distance on the cliff of beacon when he had walked with team RWBY to the bullhead liftoff platform to the cliff's top. That had been a three mile distance from the platform to the cliff but Dexter's eyesight had gotten better with some helpful advice from his mother and some tricks. Had she even seem him before now?! "That is to say, fight like you actually mean to marry him." Whyyyyy?!

Without words a red portal opened up behind him and a hand snatched at him. Raven. She emerged from the portal with a slightly disappointed but not surprised expression. He had met her years ago when some idiot with a bad luck semblance got his team trapped in his team's old mine… while he was in it. By some extraordinary horrid luck he had fallen through the roof of the treasure chamber where Dexter was and hurt his arm. He had kicked their asses and become familiar with the team after some questioning and such. He still maintained contact through the years.

"Husband." Raven commanded. "Come with me. There are none next to me in combat. I am the best of your hopeful wives. There is no contest."

"Wait, MOM?!"

"Quiet, Yang. More important things than you are at stake."

"Good point."

The battle over him only escalated. There was that champion girl, surprisingly every maiden showed up, that Vernal girl (who actually just shipped Dexter with Raven really hard. Not that he knew that), that team, um, nebula? Or was that the leader? There was the robot Penny, his adopted sister Cinder (oh come on, really?!), that Coco girl with the minigun, that rabbit faunus, and so so many more.

Wait is that Port in a wedding dre-AGH HIS EYES! HE SAW EVERY EXCRUCIATING DETAIL OH MAKE IT END!

It took hours for the carnage to end. There was actually an alliance of girls that popped up claiming to want to form a harem but their leader, Nora Valkyrie, betrayed them, claiming her love was for Ren overpowered her delusions before throwing grenades everywhere, sowing chaos and driving the members to fight one another. If she hadn't done that they would probably have won.

At the very end of it there were actually several people left. However, the combat wasn't over.

"Dexter." Qrow said angrily. "You seduced my nieces and my sister."

"And my daughter." Taiyang growled.

And so the battle continued. Eventually Dexter just became a shut in at his mother's castle. Luckily she wan't crazy over him.


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: I think a lot of you are just here for the omakes. I have my suspicions. And with some of you nearly in tears I had a great idea… A comedy! I've got a few ideas but I've got one really nice one that I wrote the first chapter for and I think I'll keep writing it.**

 **Basically Ruby accidentally becomes a criminal mastermind. She gets dragged into cahoots with Cinder and Roman in episode one and it just gets worse from there. It's going to be great. Probably. If you have any better ideas please tell me and I might write it.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 28**

 **The romantic**

"THEN COME FORTH CHILDREN OF THE STORM DAUGHTERS! PROVE YOUR CLAIMS AND DEFEAT ME TO SHOW YOUR SPIRITS!"

Dexter nearly laughed at seeing the clan so inspired by his speech. He had tried very hard to find the right spot for the treasure to sit. He had cut the tree a little to get the rays of light just right and make it all pretty. The traps had been mostly repetition. He already knew most of them from Laura. It was just labor.

He had made this armor to look good mostly but with some alterations it would be a better alternative to his far lighter normal armor. He had been very annoyed when he gotten annihilated by the minotaur's punch. It had annihilated him. A mask wasn't enough to be called an improvement to his armor. More like something he should have done a long time ago. This armor was composed of two layers. Leather and then bone. It wasn't heavy armor of any sort but it was more medium armor leaning on the heavy side. He had kept a cloak because he quite honestly couldn't imagine not wearing one.

Perhaps he got a little carried away this time, though. The charging stampede of pumped up Valkyries confirmed this. He was confident about his combat rank. He would consider himself an A rank because S ranks were so often stronger than him. He wouldn't want to face any S ranks. Maybe if he set the battlefield himself and could control the battle he would be more confident. Now, though, he wouldn't want to even try an A ranker.

This philosophy changed when facing down a whole clan. They weren't great as far as huntsmen go. C's, some sparse D's, and a good part of them were B's. Lyra's doing, Dexter presumed. Really, why wouldn't she train her clan?

Dexter had dug this hole, though. He wasn't just going to hand over his well earned loot without beating some people up first. He had his trump card he had made a while ago to deal with multiple opponents. Joan had been learning it back when he had first been figuring out vessels and essence. He would try not to use that unless he was nearing death. If he was pushed, though, he had a few low quality dust crystals he didn't really care about in his cloak to use the technique or test out with some of his other techniques. It would only block weak elemental damage if it didn't use dust fueling it. Then again, it was far easier to use without dust. Well, hopefully he wouldn't have to use it anyways.

Dexter slashed quickly and a slew of aura blades rent through the auras of some hunters. It didn't get any of them out but it certainly hurt their auras. The Valkyries got closer and he changed tactics. A small storm of arrows of ares fell on the stampede from above. Dexter noticed that four Valkyries had their auras broken from the barrage and fled the fight dejectedly.

Dexter readied his spear and met the charge head on with a blast of aura. The group fell to their shields or swung at Dexter to ward him off. Dexter adjusted himself mid-flight to land on a shield and stabbed at the woman's throat quickly. She reeled back and Dexter advanced to knock her out of the fight.

A strike was flying towards his back so Dexter brought his spear up as a staff against his arm. The strike pinned the staff against his arm so Dexter calmly swiped with his dagger at the man and bludgeoned the man's head. He parried another strike and kicked at the perpetrator. From there he was too surrounded and had to escape. Or use his trump card but he wasn't really in danger.

Dexter lunged forward and a man flinched and hid behind his shield. Dexter used it as a springboard and slammed his spear on the man's shoulder in the process. He hissed in pain as somebody shot his shoulder with lightning. Damned storm related semblances.

Eyes widened as people realized that Dexter couldn't defend against electricity. Dexter realized that they knew and immediately engaged the first level of his trump card without aura rose to the surface and wrapped him in a cocoon of aura. It looked like he had a light purple fog around him from the view of the Valkyries.

The electrical and air based attacks fell against Dexter's defense, his mantle of aura, it was called, and fizzled out or just barely made contact with his skin. Tose didn't cause much harm though.

One man bravely struck at Dexter from an odd position that Dexter could only half dodge. Dexter got a small cut and people relaxed as they realized that they could harm him. Dust couldn't hurt him either but they didn't know that.

Dexter continued his battle against the Valkyries for a few minutes and they were at about half their numbers but Dexter was wounded from quite a few of their attacks that made it through his guard. Maintaining the mantle was rather hard on his aura so he was at about fifty percent capacity as well.

Dexter decided it was time for a change and he threw his spear at a valkyrie. She was surprised but she parried it away without it doing any damage. That was fine though. Dexter dashed at her with his sword slashing and his knife coming at her from below. She blocked the sword but was gutted by the knife. She surrendered and walked off, her aura too low to continue.

Dexter continued with the far more aggressive style of a sword and knife as he raged his way through the Valkyries. The battle hastened it's pace and Dexter found himself losing aura quicker than he was taking down Valkyries. Not good. He could lose if he didn't find something. Oh! The dust crystals!

Dexter charged a massive blast of aura in his hand as he fought and then disengaged from the group. He brought out the dust crystal and alarmed shouts rang out. Too late. Dexter unleashed the blast assisted by the wind and plenty of Valkyries went flying. Most of them were fine on their own or caught by their comrades before harm could come to them. Out.

Eight fighters remained and Dexter had thirty five percent left to deal with them. He supposed that he could use another crystal easily enough. But then again… that wouldn't be dramatic at all.

"You are strong." Dexter said simply. The fighters smiled proudly and leveled their weapons at him. Dexter did no such thing. He threw throwing knives at lightning speed towards their faces and exposed limbs. Four of the fighters had lost their aura partially and weren't prepared for the sneaky move and were brought off the field sullenly.

The other four looked at Dexter flatly. "Didn't you say something about valor earlier?" one snarky woman asked. Dexter smirked under his mask. He was pretty sure they could tell he was smirking by the way they bristled.

"I asked if you all had valor. I said nothing about myself." The snarky woman and a man shrugged uncaringly. The other two women rolled their eyes.

Dexter strided forwards and they charged themselves. Dexter was hard pressed to defend himself. They had teamwork. How curious. He disengaged and looked at the four curiously. Lyra laughed in the background. "So you noticed! They are the elite of the Valkyrie clan! Trained by me personally! They're the only solid B rank team of the Valkyrie clan. They have trained for two hard years under my tutelage!"

Dexter turned to the four and realized it. They had held themselves back and let the others of the clan tire him out before they came in for the kill. Well, the others had taken down his aura but not his stamina, being limitless. It was a good strategy for a spar like this one. But only one LIKE this one. He would show them why.

Dexter chuckled and advanced on them. His mantle dimmed significantly as he channeled far less aura to it. He didn't need to fend off the semblances of a whole clan now so he wouldn't try so hard with his mantle.

Dexter did need an edge for these hunters, though. Literally in this case. He took out another dust crystal, a burn crystal this time, and sharpened his weapons with aura as he applied two thirds of the burn crystal in two parts to his weapons. The edges became burning hot and when he swung the blades left fire in their wake. It wouldn't last long, though. Two minutes, maybe. Dut was so useful! Why didn't he ever try this before?

Dexter blasted forwards and went for the leg of the male hunter. He parried with his sword but his sword melted and weakened under the heat from Dexter's weapons. Dexter jabbed the tip of his knife hard in the huntsman's side and he jerked on reflex and a swipe of his sword to the legs and a stomp to the neck finished the man off.

The three huntresses were wary now. Dexter smiled as he threw his knife at the middle of the shield of the snarky one. It sunk deep and the shield turned red hot in moments. However, did you know that the arrow of ares technique didn't only apply to arrows? It could be applied to anything. Including daggers. Dust could help too.

With most of the fire dust involved in the sharpen technique before being exploded in the arrow of ares technique the knife exploded violently. The huntress screamed more out of fright than pain but she screamed nonetheless. She came out of the explosion with about a tenth of her aura and her hair looking too dry and rather frizzy. She stomped off the field angrily. She didn't protest though. Dexter had won fairly.

The other two glanced at each other for a moment. One had very blond hair with some red and the other had dark red hair. Blondie wielded a halberd and red wielded a trident. The red haired one hummed and sheathed her weapons.

Dexter saw her collect almost all of her aura and apply it to her semblance. Nothing happened for a moment but a sudden pressure change occurred and a massive bolt of lightning came down. Not on Dexter though. On the blondie. The blondie smirked like a cat that caught the canary. Dexter barely registered her as she sped across the distance between them in a flash of bright lightning.

Dexter felt a pressure on his armor right on his heart as blondie looked victoriously into his eyes. He felt his armor crack and he was pushed back but his armor did not shatter. Blondie looked shocked that Dexter was fine as he mended his armor in moments.

Blondie advanced in another flash of speed. Dexter focused only on defending and dodging at the blows. For a minute he could only do that but he slowly collected aura into his sword. After he saw a small opening he swung with all his speed at it. Blondie blocked it but that was just a minor hindrance.

Dexter sharpened his blade with aura and the leftover fire dust and cut into her weapon and the halberd was cut in half. Blondie looked in surprise but recovered admirably. She jumped back and grabbed a stray sword from the ground. She flashed at Dexter again but Dexter saw that she was slowed from the start of her strikes. She wasn't exactly hiding that she was fueled by lightning.

Dexter was able to trade blows after another minute of dodging blows and parrying. The match was mundane from there. There wasn't much room for trickery. Dexter was low on aura so he didn't use any aura techniques and the blondie was just fast and skilled but lacked the unpredictability that was needed to catch him off guard.

Dexter noticed that her aura was being consumed as she used her semblance. So it was very powerful but it needed electricity and aura to function. It wasn't a bad tradeoff. Dexter bet that if she was in a serious fight she would use a lightning dust crystal.

Dexter won through a tricky feint with his dagger, a strike to her elbow, and shoving his knife to the underside of her jaw. He was at a twentieth of his aura. He lowered his weapons and laughed happily.

"That was an excellent fight!" Dexter cheered at the clan. The clan cheered and applauded him. Lyra grudgingly clapped for him despite manhandling her entire clan. Well, they weren't properly prepared anyways.

He was sure that they had better weapons and possibly armor at the clan residence. They were also tired from getting through the trapped forest. It was a victory but he had plenty of advantages. He hadn't used his trump card, though. That was a plus.

"You fought to the last and were honorable throughout!" A variety of people shocked him with lightning for that. He tried his best to look offended and they laughed at him. Dexter sighed and shook his head tiredly. "Well, let's just be frank. I'm tired of the dramatics myself. You all did well. You lost but you were tired, beaten from some of the traps, and you either used dust on the grimm or didn't bring any here." Nods of agreement came from the clan.

"What I'm proud of you all for, though, is that you fought together." Curious glances came his way.

"Even while fighting me and being pumped up you didn't get in each other's way. In fact, you were able to enact a plan to attack me with your four strongest fighters. It wasn't a bad plan. You probably should have helped the last man to fall but the dagger was unavoidable. It could only have been dodged or blocked had you a more thick shield."

A few patted the girl that was exploded on the back and the dark red haired huntress hugged the last huntsman to fall. Dexter might bother to learn his name later.

"That said we still have the matter of the treasure…" All of the attention was focused on him now. "... when are you all going to go play in it? I need to talk to Lyra anyways. Just don't damage anything. We'll determine who gets what later." Silence reigned for a few seconds. A small gust of wind came through the forest. Then the group ran clamoring towards the tree and the treasure pile.

Dexter laughed and absorbed his weapons, mask, and some of his armor like the pauldrons. He didn't care for the look it granted him. It was also heavier than he preferred. Light armor was far more comfortable. His cloak also felt better when it wasn't clasped onto his shoulder by the pauldrons.

Dexter waved Lyra towards the tree line and the shade. She looked rather hot. It wasn't arousal this time. He could smell that it was just sweat from standing out in the sun in steel armor.

"So… what made you come back so soon?" Lyra asked. Dexter hummed. "This is just for today. I'll have to fly back and finish my business and I'll be back tomorrow. I also need to make sure to help my best guy friend out."

Lyra looked curiously to him. "What happened?"

"He went without sleep last night and spent most of it fighting. He also endured a terrible fright. I worry whether he's alright. Right now I don't believe he knows whether I'm alive or dead." Lyra looked worried.

"Yeah, that's bad. You should definitely get back to him and clear the air with him and your friends. After tonight, though, I want some time with you to myself." Dexter chuckled a little.

The two of them spent a few minutes in a comfortable silence. Lyra took off her helmet and stared happily at her clan as they frolicked and rested in the glow of the tree. One of the clan members was painting a portrait of the tree and the clan from a ways away. She probably ran to get art supplies after getting knocked out from the fight against Dexter.

"You know," Lyra said softly, "You really helped the clan with this. You couldn't really tell before but people weren't in high spirits with the battle nearing and our clansmen getting injured by enemy hunters. Nobody's died yet, thankfully, but I'm not expecting it to get better." Dexter was silent.

"What I'm trying to say is… you didn't just help me by bringing this whole treasure hoard. Your so-called game helped my clan to have fun. It's such a rare commodity nowadays. That's just as valuable as the treasure. Oh, and you'll be telling a table how you just stumbled across a treasure hoard at dinner."

With that Lyra kissed him on the cheek and walked away with a small sway to her hips. Her rather wide hips, a part of Dexter noticed with a smile.

Dexter calmed himself but kept the smile.

|-\\\/-|

"WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID?!" Lyra yelled at him. It said something that Dexter only twitched his ears in annoyance. The rest of the clan didn't even flinch though some of them looked to her with faint annoyance for interrupting his story.

"Drawing grimm into an isolated chokepoint an-"

"No! Going into a spooky basement in the first place! That's just stupid!" Dexter frowned.

"The basement was the safest place in the whole house besides the minotaur. There were no grimm there."

Lyra stared at Dexter. "Besides the minotaur…" Dexter stared back, refusing to be intimidated.

"It was locked behind a door. We didn't know what it was since we kept it locked up." Lyra threw her hands up in the air in an act of giving up.

"A minotaur in the basement and it's the safest place in the whole manor. Absurd."

Dexter shrugged. He had left out the shadow and his possible kinship to it and replaced it with some geists that Joan fought instead. It hadn't really surprised anyone to hear that there were geists there. Actually, come to think of it why had Sweaty said that there were geists in the first place? Something to ask when he hunted the ass down and strangled some answers out of him. Or maybe Joan would deal with him.

"So what happened next?" One kid asked. Dexter grinned wolfishly.

"We looted the basement and made sure that the panic room had a few anvils to barricade the door. We set up an arena in the emptiest storeroom. Then we flared our auras."

The table looked at him excitedly. "For what must have been an hour we fought as grimm streamed down the stairs. We had to kill them as fast as they came to keep from getting overwhelmed but there were three stairwells. It was difficult to keep up such a rate. I just kept killing and occasionally throwing out an aura technique. Then… a queen taijitsu came slithering down the stairs."

People oohed at the tale. "Joan was busy keeping the minor grimm back so I charged it myself. I managed to cut off one of it's heads but I was thrown away before I could get another." older eyes widened a little bit. So some people knew what happened after you cut off only one of the heads. That would have been nice to know.

"I fended off grimm but the queen seemed to actually absorb it's dead head and transform. It became a greater taijitsu. The acid spitting it could do was annoying but I have a weapon that deals with grimm pretty easily so I cut it and most of the remaining grimm open while Joan just kept surviving."

"Why didn't you use this weapon before?" Somebody asked.

"It takes a lot of aura to use." Dexter explained. "It's like trading all of my defense for an absolute offense. If I used it early I might have gotten knocked out of the fight early on and left Joan to both defend me, if I still lived, and left him to retreat or fight them all himself." People nodded at the sound logic.

"What weapon is it anyways?" Lyra asked.

"A scythe." Dexter said casually. Lyra quirked an eyebrow.

"And why would it only work against grimm? I know a few people who use a scythe to deal with anything." Dexter nodded.

"True, most scythes can deal with aura but mine has the blade far too thin to cut anything but armor. If it were to hit aura it would shatter. If I made the blade thicker it would lose its effectiveness and I might as well just use my sword and dagger. I'm good with the scythe but I'm better with my sabre and my daggers." Lyra smiled and went back to her food.

A minute passed with everyone absorbed in their food. "How long are you going to be staying her, Dexter?" A kid asked.

"I'll be leaving tonight but I'll be back tomorrow afternoon I believe."

"Why are you heading out?"

"I have to check up on Joan and my other friends. Joan might not be so well after such a fight and I have a few private things to talk about with two others."

A moment of silence pervaded the table. "What happened then?" Lyra asked. Dexter smiled a little.

"Well before Joan and I left I looted just about everything in the basement. But then we heard a loud booming and so of cracking noise. We figured out pretty quickly that the creature being the door was getting out…"

|-\\\/-|

It had been somewhat difficult to escape Lyra. She was apparently one of the horrible breed of humans called morning people. She was also clingy in her sleep. At least she wore sleepwear. Not much of it but a bra and underwear was better than Mancer, who wore nothing in his sleep if he could get away with it. Rella once confessed she was the same before being put into a team.

Luckily Lyra's habit of waking up at a normal hour meant that she slept early as well. He had plenty of time to get to the apartment again.

The air in the night was cold. Frigid even. Well it wasn't like he was dying or anything. Cold was better than heat anyways. It was why Vacuo sucked so badly.

He came down in a flutter of feathers at an open window. A hop inside and he was drawing his coat in… actually… Where was his hammock?

Dexter stilled as he realized that Laura had stolen it and never given it back. Eyes narrowed as he growled over losing it temporarily. He was getting that hammock back.

A few strides made silent out of habit brought Dexter to the living room. Joan was sleeping on the couch already. Good. Sleep healed just about everything. Even the mental wounds that the thing inflicted just needed some time.

It was good that he knew where the paper was. A quick letter penned down to Joan explained that he'd be gone for a while but that he would be back before Tha battle whenever it may occur. The wait was irritating for everyone.

Dexter flew out the window once more and looked for Laura's aura in the masses. The auras of huntsman and huntresses shined bright compared to that of a soldier's.

There were several huntsman around and one huntress but none of them had the color of Laura's aura. You would think that it would be easy to find her considering how powerful her aura was and the whole mysterious power she had but in so many people it took a while.

Eventually he finally found her brooding in some sand dunes outside Vacuo still hot from the sun but cooled by the air of the night.

After coming up with a plan of attack he fell into the sands as a minor taijitsu, just a tiny one headed taijitsu, and slithered under the sands towards Laura.

Creeping up was easy. She was deep in thought and he specialized in stealth and ambushes.

Dexter made himself into a faunus again and clapped his hand on Laura's shoulder strongly as he spoke in a loud voice.

"So why are you sulking?"

Laura jumped but Dexter's hand held her down. She turned to give him an annoyed look but it fell flat. She wasn't even up for faking it? That's concerning.

He sat down next to her and just waited for an answer. Laura drew her knees to her chest and was silent.

After a minute or two she finally spoke. "I'm not sorry. I really do think my way is best for us."

"Why can't you just accept a friendship? I thought things were nice before…"

"They were nice. Then I fell in love with you and it wasn't enough anymore. It was still nice but I want more."

Dexter took a deep and weary sigh. She would be difficult like this of course. "I don't love you."

"But you could if you tried."

He didn't respond. She was right after all. But he didn't want to fall in love with her. With Lyra too it was more of a relief to have someone to talk to than anything resembling love.

"Why her? You barely know her. You've known me for years and I know you've known about my attractions for a while. What makes her so special that you take notice? She isn't even the first either. Plenty of girls have hit on you before and I don't think you even noticed."

Girls had hit on him? He hadn't noticed, yes. There were some rather friendly girls to him though… He ignored that line of thought.

"Lyra is everything you're not." Laura visibly flinched at that.

"You're kind, smart, can be funny, you fit almost any role you're given, and you love me deeply though I know there's an obsessive fixation on me as well. That's actually the main reason I refuse to try. " Laura looked down at the dune seemingly thinking hard.

"Lyra is kind, smart, can be funny, she has a role and fits it, she has feelings obviously budding for me, she's courting me for more than just herself, and more too. She is giving me a family. Something I've never had. Beyond that she one sole thing that gives her a chance in the first place…"

Laura's jaw clenched but gave him her full attention anyways.

"She isn't trying to keep me." Laura let out a 'huh? ' sound.

"Lyra doesn't mind if I travel." he explained. "She could have tied me to responsibilities to her clan in a hundred different ways but she didn't. Not once has she ever even mentioned me staying in the same place for long… I'm falling for her."

Laura blinked at the end and a weary expression crossed over her face. Dexter could faintly see a few tears in her eyes.

"I want to be friends with you. Never lovers."

"I'm sorry. No…" Laura seemed extremely distraught over herself. Dexter growled lightly at the expected answer.

"One day I hope you can let this go. It isn't good for you to be so attached to me. I'll be back in a week or so. Before the battle. I'm still with Vale. Even if I have ties to Mistral. Goodbye."

Laura reached out to him but he moved before she got a hand on him. Her hand fell to the ground and drew back. "I'm so sorry."

"... You shouldn't be sorry about falling in love. Find someone else to cling to. Not everyone hates that. Goodbye."

And at that Dexter flew away, leaving Laura to think alone…

When he got back to the Valkyrie clan house he crept back into Lyra's bed. She threw an arm around him and clutched him close. A moment later her grip lightened from bear hug to a light squeeze. Dexter fell asleep and had one thought… He had forgotten about his hammock…

|-\\\/-|

"Mmmmrl." Dexter… Growled? It was like a growly moan but not in a weird way.

"Come on! Breakfast is in an hour! Morning workouts are awesome! I'll show you!" the Demon said with abhorrent enthusiasm.

"Shhhhhh." Dexter shushed. He placed a finger up to Lyra's mouth and she stopped talking out of confusion. "Sleeeeeeep."

Lyra blinked a few times before sighing. She reached into the bed and grabbed Dexter by the shoulders. "Up!"

Dexter reached for the beautiful fluffy mass far superior to any other sleeping spot but his hammock. His ears drooped and he reached for it futilely.

"I've been up for the past forty five minutes and I SHOULD be doing a round of paperwork right now but I'm going to make you do it with me later! Now up."

Dexter sighed and got up on his feet. Lyra grinned as she won through his inner sloth.

"Wait, where are your clothes?" Lyra asked when she realized Dexter was only wearing some soft trousers.

Dexter rolled his eyes and made clothes on his body. Lyra watched in surprise. "... I want to do that. Your semblance is so convenient. Can we trade?" Dexter snorted and didn't even bother to answer. Of course not.

"Well… time to go running! You seem skinny and without stamina so we're going to buff you up!"

|-\\\/-|

"How do you have so much stamina?!" Lyra cried despairingly forty five minutes later. Dexter looked at her. Sweating. Aching. Panting. Did he mention that he had run at what Lyra said was faster than her usual pace, which was his normal run, and had pushed her to do the same? He was fine. Grimm for the win.

"Because, Lyra, I have what's called stamina. You seem to be lacking that." Lyra looked at him with a pole-axed look. How could he say such a thing?! Well, he could say more.

"I'll make sure to up your training to account for your lackluster physical abilities." Lyra looked just about ready to sink to her knees in shock.

"Then I'll put you through strength training! We'll start by lifting boulders!" Dexter looked to her in fright. His only weakness! Strength! Why did he need that when he had blades to do the work for him?! He didn't even gain muscle mass! It was based on his aura anyways!

"Never!" he spat vehemently. Lyra's eyes narrowed.

"... Breakfast is here and we're almost late. We will continue this tomorrow."

Dexter relented at that. The food here was extremely good.

|-\\\/-|

"My old enemy." Lyra hissed with narrowed eyes. Hostility came off of her in waves. The paperwork was clearly unintimidated.

Lyra stalked over to it and looked at the top page. "Gah! A new clan law against breakfast foods! And from the general too! A fine move but this isn't over. Behold! My ultimate weapon!"

Like the hammer of a god the stamp came down and slammed into the paper. It came away leaving a bloody red 'Clan privilege' stamp.

Dexter looked at the dramatic scene in puzzlement. There was a clan privilege stamp? You could do that? Just yell clan privilege and get away with absurd things like mass import of waffles as a high priority import?

"Eeek! No! Taxes! Begone demons!" the taxes went into a bin with the label 'For Desten' and under that in parentheses 'Lyra's awesome secretary!'. Poor Desten…

Dexter seemed to know how paperwork worked now but he needed just a few more examples to make sure.

"No! I am the fitness regimen! I make the rules Fern!" a petition with the list of what appeared to be the names of every clan member on it was lit on fire by a match and tossed into a metal trash can with some sticks and a sizable pile of ashes at the bottom.

"War taxes! Damn you! The old fashioned way it is! May you be starved of all breakfast foods you fiend!" Lyra scribbled through the form, giving signatures, addresses for contacts, and whatever information was needed.

Dexter walked up to the desk where Lyra was filling out the form and looked at a sheet. A sort of letter asking for Lyra to be present at a test for aspiring huntsmen to become actual huntsmen from… The twins. Dexter supposed two Valkyrie twins aspiring to be huntsmen sent the letter.

"What important elder is the least busy?" Dexter asked.

"Dellson." Lyra muttered. Dexter penned a letter in under a minute to the twins assigning Dellson as an envoy of Lyra's to attend the test. He then made a note telling elder Dellson Valkyrie about his new appointment.

"Here" Dexter said. He passed Lyra the letter. She read it quickly and laughed.

"Beautiful! You're a natural!"

Dexter smiled and tossed a request for paid food in the cafeteria through meal tickets or some other logical well thought out system. Unacceptable. The cafeteria was and is a war zone where the strongest and most ambitious survive. To the fire with thee.

Lyra glanced at the burning paper's title and smiled happily. "You are learning."

|-\\\/-|

"Where now?" Dexter asked curiously. "To train my clansmen. I keep every day at ten until noon to train them to the ground. That way I get to lunch first." Lyra said happily.

Dexter began to smirk when he saw the congregation of the Valkyrie clan at an empty field. They weren't in any order. Just a mass of people.

"Are they supposed to be in any order?" Dexter asked curiously. Lyra winced slightly.

"My clan isn't exactly… disciplined. Too much energy. They're not brats or anything and they certainly try but… Well none of us are perfect and discipline is one of our weak points. We didn't even have a schedule before I took over."

Dexter's smirk grew and he walked up to the congregation. Without warning he blasted a weak glare across the crowd. They all froze and some broke out into sweat. Even the birds were silent.

"It has come to my attention that you all lack discipline… get into your formation. Do not talk." Dexter spoke only somewhat louder than normal.

Without a word the clan scrambled into something resembling a formation. "Is that it?" the tension was thick.

"When you are in formation you should be staring straight ahead into the back of the head of the person in front of you. Fix yourselves now."

Some shuffling and the clan looked better. It was a square of Valkyries in various attire. The clothing was fine since they weren't doing anything in the public eye.

"Better." Some of the clan grew less tense. "now the real work begins." a tinge of fear pervaded the air. "One hundred push-ups each. This is the warm up. If you are doing them improperly I will fire an arrow near you. If you do so again you will enter a spar with me or Lyra. We will not hold back."

The clan was sure motivated now.

|-\\\/-|

"Alright. You can stop now." Dexter said cheerily. A collective groan ensued and the Valkyries fell down on the ground with a cascade of thumps.

Dexter had worked them on everything. Flexibility, strength, stamina, and sparred them against each other. Their technique was crappy for plenty of weapons. They were working on fixing it.

Lyra stared in awe at her now exhausted clan. "Oh yeah. You're leading next time too." someone let out a cry of fear. The rest were too tired to care.

"You'll be joining them." Dexter said simply. Lyra looked at him in some fear. He smiled. "Tomorrow. Lunch first." Lyra shuddered and nodded. "We'll spar tomorrow."

Lyra shook the bad thoughts away and refocused on the present rather than the terrible future.

"They're serving waffle fries and burgers today at my request. Come on. I'll ask that they keep the leftovers warm for these poor suckers."

Dexter ignored the last part and the suckers in general were forgotten. He even had a spring to his step. Today had been quite amusing although two hours of paperwork was a bit excessive.

"What are fries anyways?" Dexter asked. "I've seen hamburgers before but never fries."

"Fries are a rather new food from Mistral." Lyra explained. "they're potatoes boiled in a type of vegetable oil or something. Some sort of oil. They're cut into pieces beforehand in different shapes too. We only use waffle fries for obvious reasons."

Dexter nodded. Made sense. He was coming to like waffles a lot. Maybe the Valkyrie was getting to him… that's a disturbing thought.

"Speaking of waffles, have you considered giving your weapon a waffle sort of head?"

Lyra looked at Dexter with a puzzled sort of look. "The head of your hammer is flat. If you made it a little longer a head and used a waffle iron you could make it more deadly, being that the surface is uneven and have waffle imprints on everything you hit."

Lyra looked at Dexter with awe. "Making waffles with violence and hammers… that's the sexiest, most beautiful words to have ever been spoken."

Dexter raised a single eyebrow. Lyra muttered rapidly to herself on getting what she called 'the waffler' and some somewhat disturbing ideas of what she would do to that weapon. Like tucking it in to bed at night. Dexter was glad she wasn't a pervert when it came to waffles. She had enough quirks…

Was it bad that he thought that killing his brothers and sisters would be fun with a waffle?

Dexter decided pointedly that no it was not and he made a hammer of extremely dense bone with a hammer head shaped with a grid of thick blades. The waffler prototype.

Lyra gasped as the waffler was placed in her hands. She tapped the ground with it and lifted it up slowly. With the grid-like pattern on the hammer and the soft ground… It looked like a waffle had been made in the ground.

"... I'm going to order one today that can become a gun or something… This is art." Lyra had the beginnings of tears of joy in her eyes as she tenderly brushed the dirt from the waffler.

"So beautiful…" Dexter barely heard the last words Lyra spoke. He wanted to try those waffle fries. He wondered what they had as sauce. They had only had honey in the wilderness and raw mustard. Honey mustard was pretty good, though, he had to admit. Hard to top that. It's just hard to make. It was a shame that he was such a bad cook. He could only make campfire food… such a shame.

"I'm going to use you in everything… cooking, warfare, paperwork… Mmmm."


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: Life. Just life being life. And voting day being a mess since I had some problems with scheduling and got home around ten thirty and just needed to sleep. It was an early night. Hopefully this makes up for it… well slightly. Also, I'm anticipating that there might be another delay in a few chapters. Thirty two I mean. That's where I stop using pre-made chapters (Finally) and I'm going to have to get back into the groove of things with this fic.**

 **On another note… This fic is ending pretty soon. Not thirty two probably but maybe thirty three and an epilogue. I had planned this grand three part story with multiple arcs and it was going to be great and all… but I just hit that point of losing steam for a story. This one in particular. So with some sadness I'm going to be shutting the doors on this story somewhat soon.**

 **Don't get me wrong, this story is a mess of things that I tried that just didn't really work all that well. SIs are something I'm going to try to depart from in future stories since while I do think a good SI is a great thing and really enjoyable it's not something I should cling to. I've got that idea I had last chapter that I tried the first chapter for and a slew of other ideas though. There are better plot devices than adding a new character. So I'll try some.**

 **On things that didn't work out I can name like ten. An AU was interesting but I didn't really pull it off as well as I wish I could have. Romance has been interesting to write. I think I'm okay at it but I doubt romance will ever be the center of any literary works I write unless it's a oneshot and I'm feeling inspired. Combat is something I need to work on some more since I feel like I missed some sort of moments I wanted to pop and they just passed by. And last to mention would be going OOC. Like Laura's obsession seemed out of the blue for some people. Not good for the immersion. I need to lead up to that more and remember that you guys don't have the ability to look behind the facades my characters put up or stuff like that.**

 **Anyways, enjoy the story. I hope you all enjoy. This is one of the better ones in my opinion.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 29**

 **The arena**

The second day at the Valkyrie residence was much the same as the first. As was the second and third. On the fourth day, though, the routine broke when Dexter simply woke up. Lyra grabbed onto him and pulled him back in. "Game day…" She mumbled. Dexter quirked an eyebrow but Lyra had already fallen asleep.

Lyra woke again some time later. Dexter had drifted off into a light sleep so he woke as well. She yawned, accidentally showing her assets. Dexter wondered why he even noticed that sort of thing anymore. Shouldn't exposure make it less interesting?

Lyra rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and shook herself awake. "So what's so special about today? You said something about game day when you were half asleep." Dexter asked. Lyra sat up on the bed and rubbed some sleep out of her eyes before just waiting to wake up. Then she got started.

"Game day is a sort of tradition that we've adopted in a way. It started… um, awhile ago. I really have no idea. It just started with a few people and then spread sometime when I was away getting stronger and… where was I? Oh! So we all go to a field and beat the crap out of a rival clan in Mistral about once every three months. Today is the Nikos clan…" For a brief moment Lyra looked actually angry. Something flickered behind her eyes. "Goat fuckers." She said under her breath.

"What's so bad about them?" Dexter asked.

"They're really arrogant because they rule the arenas of Mistral. Always wearing armor for no reason in public, looking like smirking assholes, and having a bad attitude." Lyra said bitterly. "The king likes the arenas so they often get special favors and such. We would be fine but they occasionally step on smaller clans to get what they want. They've stepped on the Valkyrie clan a few times but… none of that is actually the reason I dislike the clan name. They've gotten a bit better in the past few years but I hold a bit more of a personal grudge against them."

"When I was in my early travels I met Leonidas Nikos. He's one of the worse Nikos' now. He and I were both B rank and headed to the same place so we stuck together for a while. He seemed alright. Humor a little dark, a slight more disregarding of common folk than I'd like, and some other sort of bad habits and traits but he wasn't a bad person. After we went to the same town we just stuck together. Neither of us had anywhere to go and we worked well together. Fast forward a month and we were sleeping together."

Dexter's eye twitched. Lyra was scowling too intensely and was too immersed in her storytelling to notice though. "After a week of that his worse traits started appearing. Cruelty, the arrogance, and he flirted with other women. Nothing serious but he damn well knew they were flirting and he responded well to it to make me jealous. He liked the women fighting over him more than he would like actually sleeping with him though."

"I left him and he got angry. It was… messy. I left him tied up in a tree's branches and knocked out. I later learned at a bar that Leo was the clan heir. I didn't know that and I'm not sure if he knew I was in line to be the Valkyrie clan head but if he did… well, when two clan heads marry the man takes the role of clan head over the woman since only one person can be clan head at a time."

"Now Leo wants to still marry me and challenges me to a duel practically every time we meet for my hand in marriage. Maybe thirty or so years ago those laws would actually apply but the king wouldn't mind breaking them out again to see two S classes having a child not to even mention the benefits of having a close friend and supporter of his having more power in his clan. A union between us would be incredibly useful to Mistral as a whole but not at all good for my clan considering I'd be Lyra Nikos and everyone in my clan would follow."

"I don't like him already." Dexter spoke plainly.

Lyra grinned a little. "Well good. Because dueling a man for his betrothal is actually legal and still happens sometimes. He'll undoubtedly duel you for my hand. We could reject the marriage but the king could cause a lot of trouble over the new betrothal being broken and maybe even pull it through. Leonidas could then impregnate me whether I like it or not since he would be my husband…" Lyra looked nearly sick and Dexter's scowl was well pronounced.

"I'm going to kick his ass whether he duels me or not." He muttered. Lyra brightened up a little.

"Well we're totally going to win game day anyways. The Nikos' are only good at dueling. They suck at real fights for the most part. Even if you do somehow manage to lose to Leo, who's an A rank by the way, we can probably pull a few favors and renounce the betrothal back to you."

Dexter growled and Lyra shut up about him losing. She hopped into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

|-\\\/-|

Dexter's mood was soured by the talk of him maybe losing the likely impending duel so breakfast wasn't nearly as good as it normally was.

He and Lyra had talked a little more about Leonidas and game day. Leo's semblance was to turn parts of his body to metal, which didn't cost nearly any aura at all. He saved on aura costs for shielding by fighting opponents with blades and not needing to shield himself. He then used a few aura techniques to inflict more damage than his reportedly impressive weapons skills could dish out. He wasn't very good at aura control or the techniques, though. None of the natural skill that made a good aura technique user apparently.

Nobody was allowed to do morning exercises to be fresh for the fight. It wasn't so much a game day as a battle day but it was kind of like a large spar after a string of duels between the upper echelons of the clan members. Lyra hadn't mentioned the first event. It was apparently often outshined by the large fight, which made sense as thirty or so members fighting against each other was more memorable than arena fights.

The fight began around ten so they all had two hours to get ready before the games started after breakfast was done. Dexter laid in his hammock and plotted for ways to beat Leonidas. It wasn't hard actually. Unless he was amazing at his weapons or had had some sort of breakthrough he should be easy to deal with. It was more for the sake of backups than actually dealing with the man.

Dexter's first plan was to use his scythe but the concern with that was that he might cut off Leonidas' leg entirely. Whether it would even cut the leg wasn't even under doubt. It could cut through grinn bone and rock without effort. Even it it only went halfway through it would be enough.

He planned to lay a nasty cut across Leonidas' chest and throw a dagger at his forehead while he was stunned, look at him amusedly to mock him a little. Rinse and repeat. If he engages his aura then rather than his semblance he could crack his scythe over his head and whether or not the scythe broke wasn't a problem. He would almost certainly be knocked out anyways. If he by some miracle wasn't knocked out then Dexter would apply a burn crystal he had requisitioned from the Valkyrie public armory to a dagger. He had also gotten some other dust as well from his little cache in the woods and a few more from the armory. Dust had proved it's worth in his first fight. He could probably use some dustcasting in other fights as well.

The second backup plan was to use him as a chew toy. It was probably his favorite plan but since the fights would be spectated by the Nikos clan it would be better to not transform in front of them. They might get spooked an shoot him. It would be unpleasant.

"Ready to go?" Lyra asked. Dexter nodded and smirked a little.

"Do you mind if I fly there? I'd like to mess with his when I first see him. Leave a good impression." Lyra looked amused.

"Sure. It's a friendly event… on paper. Nobody can fault you if you want to mess around a little with him. Just don't do anything harmful to the Valkyrie clan's reputation." Dexter nodded and turned to a nevermoore.

A while later the Valkyrie clan got going. Dexter followed them from the skies until he spotted a congregation of red walking towards the same place. He immediately checked them out.

… Lyra was right. They did look like assholes. Most of them anyways. They typically had lightly tanned or pale skin and every one of them wore a crimson tunic or armor. Their armors were bronze, silver, or gold with shiny steel serving as actual protection along with chainmail or leather or both where there wasn't plated steel. They used a variety of weapons. Spears, swords, axes, longswords, and one cheeky looking fellow even had a pistol, shortsword, and rifle. Other than the man with the guns Dexter could only see one person with a bow. Maybe they didn't like ranged weapons?

At their head was a man that had to be Leonidas. He wore an exorbitant embroidered red and gold tabard of dyed leather over a light chestplate of steel with a cape. On his legs and arms he wore chainmail. A cowl of leather with chainmail on the outside was pulled back behind his head. At his side was a curved sword sheath and a buckler on his arm. A scimitar? Interesting.

At least he wasn't stupid. His armor was more functional than some of his other likely dumber clan members and, Dexter would grudgingly admit, stylish. The man pulled off dark brown hair very well over his red and glistening steel torso. He had the broodingly good looks for it.

The only real flaw with the man was his cape. Most people who wore a cape or cloak of any sort in combat pinned their clothing to their body. If they twirled around too quickly they could have their cloak or cape interfere with their weapon if they strike. Or somebody could catch it and yank on it to throw you off your guard.

Dexter kept his cloak pinned halfway down his back. Laura kept hers pinned near her waist. Leonidas' cape had no pins. It flowed down behind him with no pins whatsoever. If he turned too fast he would leave his cape open for grabbing. Considering in combat he was made of metal and thus being extra heavy he would probably be immune to grabbing of any sort but since Dexter could cut metal with his scythe rather easily he would have to not use his semblance, leaving his cape open.

Dexter knew that if he could grab that and yank Leonidas back he could land a surprise attack on his carotid at the base of his neck and knock him out or catch him off guard if his semblance was engaged. He would block it with his aura but enough of the force would still get through if he hit hard enough he would be knocked out. If he wasn't then he could hit him again. He wouldn't die. He would just get knocked out.

He still fondly remembered when his team had had a little training session about ways to stealthily put down opponents. They had needed a local bandit leader alive for questioning on a few things so Dexter needed to learn a few non-lethal takedown techniques. Blood choke, carotid, and sleeper hold.

There were apparently a few more but those were considered inhumane and not taught in huntsmen schools unless in war time, where the courses were more focused on human to human combat and far more brutal and bare-bones than a normal course. War bones they were called. Because they knew how to fight fantastically but they don't know the basics of many typical huntsmen things such as grimm anatomy.

This is why they were war bones. Bare-bones knowledge and trained specifically for war. Joan had caught the ending year of a war time teaching year. He cited far more physical workouts and plenty more spars and human combat along with a dehumanization course.

Leonidas and his posse eventually reached the grounds for the games, a sort of rectangular pit-like arena in the woods dug into a hill. Wooden chairs were placed on the two long opposite sides of the arena with a set of twenty or so nicer chairs plateaued in the smaller side. It was probably a VIP section. Four very nice chairs topped the nice side over the other ones at a long table. For clan heads probably. The last side of the arent was open ended to allow access into the arena and to allow stairs leading up into the stands.

Outside of the arena was forested area with a smattering of structures. A short tower, a sandy area, a lake too dirty to drink from without filtering and boiling, a tiny fort of walls around a squat bunker, and a little cliff to shoot into the sandy pit from.

The Valkyries were already seated in one side of the stands of the arena and Lyra seated at one of the four chairs in the middle section looking bored The elders were chatting amicably in the seats below her.

When Leonidas arrived he strided into the center of the arena and everyone in the Valkyrie clan ignored him, Lyra included. He glared at them and Lyra. It was weak compared to Dexter's. "Ahem!" He tried. Everybody continued to ignore him. A gleam in her eye and a twitch of Lyra's mouth showed Dexter that she planned this. He approved.

"AHEM!" Leonidas more shouted this out than fake coughed. Most of the Valkyries laughed a little at him and Leonidas got the joke on him and he rolled his eyes and looked at them flatly.

"Lyra!" He called to her. She looked to him with faked boredom. That glint of something sparked in her eyes when she looked to him again and her face twitched a little more though it was doubtful Leonidas could see it from so far away. She was hiding her amusement of course. It would be impolite not to. "Yes, Leo?"

"Is it true you've become betrothed?" His voice was somewhat deep for his stature.

"What do you think?" Dexter wondered if Lyra was actually looking bored because it was better than amusement or if it was to piss him off.

"So it's true then." Lyra sighed and reached between her breasts and pulled out the courtship mark that Dexter had given her. Leonidas smirked. "I challenge your betrothed to a duel." Nobody looked surprised in the slightest.

Dexter shifted to a faunus in midair and landed behind Leonidas silently enough to not be heard over the faint talkings of the crowd. He also began forming his scythe's blade on his back but not the shaft. The talkings had only grew a little when Leonidas made his announcement since Dexter had appeared but Leonidas probably thought this was because of his duel announcement.

"Fine." Dexter said quietly in Leonidas' ear. The man jumped and yelped in surprise. Some laughter rang out at Dexter's messing with Leonidas. The man's face burned with some embarrassment from how people were messing with him so far.

He straightened his posture and sneered at Dexter, which didn't work as the man was a few inches shorter than him. Lyra was actually a little taller than Dexter. Kissing must have been awkward when they had dated.

"You accept the duel, wastrel? Or are you a coward?" Dexter shook his head in exasperation.

"I accept the duel. Now then?" Leonidas smirked deviously and drew his scimitar as his buckler went up. His sword stayed down though. Dexter had finished his work and grew the scythe's shaft out and made it denser as he went. He planted the shaft on the ground with a thud and a small puff of the dry dirt.

"I like the way you speak, dog. If you hadn't taken my bride or been born with such abhorrent features you might be a friend." Dexter frowned.

"Racist, huh? Sad thing for a man to be. First to be subdued, how about? First blood doesn't mean anything in real combat, as I'm sure anyone would know."

Leonidas smirked more. "Of course. Battle isn't dependant on something like aura. However, I would suggest we put something a little more… personal on the line." Leonidas' scimitar pointed upwards. To Dexter's ears. "Should I win I will be allowed to sever your more unsightly appendages." Lyra looked at Leonidas in some degree of horror. She glanced at Dexter's ears in concern.

"Your grimm-touched eye will stay. I am not stupid. An eye of bloody crimson means nothing. Should you win… well what is it you would like?"

Dexter's eyes were narrowed. He liked his eyes. They made him feel special. He LIKED his ears. A lot. They showed his independence from the majority of humanity and even other faunus, being beowolf ears.

"Interesting." Dexter said calculatingly. "I can't say I care much for your bodily appendages. There would be no reason for it. I doubt you would respect any vow to not disrespect my kind."

Leonidas frowned but nodded. "My apologies but I would not be able to respect such a request. I dislike your kind. I only treat you civilly because I respect my future wife's judgement. Count yourself proud that you are deserving of it." Dexter ignored his assholery and found what he wanted from Leonidas. He smirked deviously.

"You will wear these throughout the remainder of the day on your honor." In one hand Dexter formed a headband made of flexible bone that clung to a shape slightly smaller than Leonidas' head to cling to it should it be worn. It had beowolf ears on it. In his other hand was a pin with a tail attached to it.

Leonidas looked with surprise and disgust at the accessories. "I…see. A matter of perspective then. Very well… should I be defeated I will wear… those things. Should you win I will only sever one ear. Your request is temporary. It would be excessive for me to take two of your features… unless you would prefer both severed?" Dexter shook his head.

"I appreciate your logic. I suppose…" Leonidas was a racist and a prick for certain. However… he hadn't been a total prick and he had lessened the punishment for losing. Dexter wouldn't deceive him. It would make good on a stereotype he wouldn't care to reinforce.

"You see, my semblance grants regeneration to me." Dexter cut his hand deep on his scythe and showed it to Leonidas, who looked interestedly at Dexter's hand as it healed the wound in a matter of seconds. "If you were to sever my ear I would be able to regrow it easily. Would you prefer to change your request?"

Leonidas looked simultaneously impressed and disappointed at the same time. "Should you regrow the ear could you make it the color of my clan?" Dexter frowned. He would have to change his whole style if he did that… ugh. As a test he morphed his hand to a beowolf's paw for a moment and tried to make it red. He could do a bright red sort of. It might take a little practice. Gold, though… no. He couldn't make gold.

"I can make it crimson." Dexter offered. Leonidas shrugged.

"That is fine. Agreed then?" Dexter nodded. Red ear or seeing Leo wearing humiliating accessories. Worth it. Dexter readied his scythe to fight and Leonidas got into a stance with his buckler and scimitar readied.

"I must say, animal, I have not met one such as yourself with graces as yours. Do know you have my respect as an equal… provided you can fight of course. If not then I must say my opinion lies unchanged." Dexter smiled. Ignoring the racism he kind of liked Leonidas. He was fair and honest about who he was. A trait Dexter valued despite how common it appeared to be amongst huntsmen.

"Lyra, darling, would you count us?" Leonidas called. Lyra stood up.

"Even if you won't listen, don't call me darling or sweet or future wife… Thank you for trusting my judgement, though." Leonidas swelled with the praise and Lyra frowned at having probably encouraged him somehow. It was pretty obvious in her tone she was just being courteous.

Every part of chatter died in the stands as Lyra began to speak. "As the king views… are you ready?!"

"Ready." The two of them chorused. Dexter recalled the tradition from his first spar with Lyra. They locked eyes and traded smirks.

"Then by the command of the king… Start!" At that word Dexter slammed his foot into the earth and flew Towards Leonidas. His skin turned to steel and he charged. He looked a little put off guard at Dexter's tactic of movement though.

Dexter moved midair and moved to a slide halfway to Leonidas. He slid under his left side. Where his shield was, and slammed his scythe's shaft into his kneecap. His kneecap held firm and only moved a little bit. It put Leonidas just slightly off balance though, which was enough. Dexter's scythe's shaft cracked a little and bounced off. The crack was quickly mended.

He bent his knees and killed his momentum before jumping as hard as he could with another blast of aura. Leonidas was turning quickly but not quick enough. Dexter's scythe blade punched straight through his left abdomen and carried him with it. Leonidas took on the rotational force and stayed on the scythe blade, which Dexter quickly planted onto the ground. From the scythe blade's tip grew tendrils of bone like the roots of a tree. They planted it in the dirt.

Leo gaped at the blade in him for a few seconds. Dexter took in the silence of the arena and smiled at Leonidas. "I believe you are subdued, yes?" Leonidas gaped at him now for a moment before finding his voice after a few seconds.

"Uhm… why doesn't it hurt?"

"Does it normally hurt when you're made of metal?"

"Well no… but… ah, I just assumed it would always be hurt to be impaled."

"So if it doesn't hurt why aren't you cutting through your metal flesh to escape?"

"I-... Well why are you talking to me?"

"I don't see you as a threat to me at all."

"Oh." Leonidas didn't seem very offended. He was pinned to the ground so it was pretty understandable that he wasn't a threat.

He looked to the blade coming out of him and tried to push it off him. "How heavy is this scythe?"

"I truly don't know actually. Just very heavy. It's also rooted in the ground like a tree right now by the way. I can manipulate my body basically so long as I understand the organic material. It's my semblance. I made the scythe from my bone I grew and made it as dense as I could on the blade. The problem is that the blade is so thin that it's easily-"

Leonidas moved a little to the side and the blade snapped in half.

"-breakable. Yes, like that." Leonides got up and awkwardly got his sword and shield. "So… my apologies, but I wasn't really pinned and I'm certainly not subdued. I suppose the match is still on?"

Dexter thought for a moment and shrugged. "Sure. Oh, and When I said I could manipulate my body… well don't freak out and try to actually kill me, hm?" Leonidas opened his mouth but froze as Dexter became a massive beowolf and blasted towards him.

Leonidas was so surprised that he didn't react in time before Dexter crunched down on him and lifted him up in the air like a stick.

"What the?! No! Off! Wait! Stop!" Dexter ignored him and shook his head vigorously. The Valkyrie clan had broken out into hysterical laughter at the mockery of a duel and the Nikos clan were struggling to hold in their horror at their leader being manhandles and the laughter at the absurdity.

Dexter pranced as happily as he could around the arena holding a yelling Leonidas. His sword arm was trapped in his jaws and his shield was trapped in a gap in Dexter's teeth he had made.

Dexter looked up to Lyra, who was laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach. She calmed herself to giggle fits quickly and looked at Dexter as he quirked his head to the side like a curious puppy.

"Good boy!" She said before howling with laughter again. Even the Nikos clan broke at that. Laughter was intense around the whole arena. Leonidas had finally realized what had happened and looked at his clan in betrayal.

"I forfeit! I am beaten!" He cried out. He probably hoped it would end. Fool.

Dexter munched a little and Lyra picked up her cue. "Dexter drop it!" Dexter growled a little and Leonidas yelped at the vibrations.

"Drop it! Don't make me grab the the giant newspaper!" Some people fell out of their seats as they couldn't stop laughing. That Lyra could say that clearly was a miracle in and of itself.

Dexter whined and spat Leonidas out onto the dirt floor. He fell and looked around with an extremely irritated and rather confused expression. Dexter turned to a faunus and smiled brilliantly as he held out the tail pin and headband with ears. Leonidas looked nearly in tears. He might have cried if he hadn't been made of metal at the moment.

|-\\\/-|

Every other match was outshined by Dexter's performance, because there was no way that could actually be called a duel. At the end Dexter hopped into the pit again and faced the audience.

"Attention please…" Well he already had everybody's attention anyways.

"I know that a lot of you will likely talk all about my match with Leonidas outside of this event with all of your friends and all." A smattering of giggles and grins said that yes they would.

"Please don't." A chorus of confused murmurs rang out. "This is a private match. There is no reason to ruin Leonidas' reputation with rumors. Simply because we aren't of the same clan doesn't mean we should act as enemies. It would simply be insult to injury. There's no reason to act so disgracefully."

The Valkyrie clan didn't much like that but pretty much everybody agreed. Mainly because they respected him but he was also right. No reason to make enemies here. The Nikos clan seemed relieved. Leonidas, all dressed up in faunus ears and a fluffy tail, sighed in relief. Reputation was important, Dexter knew. A reputation as an excellent chew toy wasn't exactly a good one unless you were a dog.

"Thank you." Dexter said. A brief walk back to the middle section and Dexter took a seat next to Lyra, who stood up and walked to the front of the VIP stands.

"We will be soon commencing the main event. Group up at the landmark you have. This year's event will be…" An excited silence pervaded the air. Everybody looked in excitement at Lyra. "Three-fold control. With some modifications we made"

Cheers rang out. Dexter didn't have a clue what control was but smiled anyways and pretended he knew what was going on.

Leonidas stood up this time and approached the front. "Point Nikos will be the fort." The Nikos clan cheered. "Point Valkyrie will be the tower." Cheers rang out from the Valkyries. "The centerpoints will be the brown lake, the poor man's coliseum, and the lesser bluff." Cheers rang out of the audience at all but the last announcement.

Lyra grinned. "At the greater bluff-" People perked up at this "-We have placed a VERY special prize. Two banners. Should any member of a clan grab their clan's banner and return it to a point controlled by their clan they will permanently hold that outpost." Happy cheers rang out.

"But beware." Lyra warned. People fell silent quickly. "At the top of the bluff we have a guardian. Dexter." A round of agonised sounds chorused out. Leonidas spoke up. "As Dexter is not formally a member of the Valkyrie clan and has proven himself an honorable man we will be posting him at the greater bluff to guard it against trespassers. Should you escape the bluff he will cease his pursuit and you can only be stopped by a member of the opposing clan."

People looked to Dexter warily. He grinned cheerfully and waved. From the sound of it he didn't have to care about what others were doing and the game in general. He just had to make sure nobody went up a cliff. Oh this would be fun.

He was a little angry that Lyra had thrusted this responsibility on him but she probably knew he would enjoy the duty. It was also true that he wouldn't actually be allowed to compete since he was only tied to the Valkyries rather than a clan member.

What he was annoyed at was that Leonidas looked entirely unsurprised by the announcement. This meant that Lyra and he had communicated this beforehand and she hadn't told him. It had probably just been forgetfulness on her part.

That Leonidas had asked Lyra of her courting and betrothal to Dexter when he first arrived was likely more for his clan than himself as well as some pomp and flair.

Dexter would confirm more of this later. For now, however, he walked to the front of the VIP section. Lyra looked questioningly but moved aside and Leonidas followed suite.

"You of the Valkyrie clan likely remember my… challenge when I first introduced myself to the clan." Most of the clan flinched or shuddered at the reminder. The Nikos clan looked to them and grew more attentive at the looks from the Valkyrie clan.

"To put it succinctly… I beat the whole clan through a forest filled with traps and my personal efforts." The Nikos clan looked to him in some fear and he continued. "To keep it fair I will not be expanding myself fully. I do recommend that none of you have the bright idea of sending a paltry squad of four up the bluff. Eight should suffice. Send any more than eight per clan and I will annihilate you all."

Nervous laughter rang out. "I hope to see you all at my cliff. Don't worry about getting back down. I'll be flying you out." Some excited whispers went out. Who didn't want to fly on a nevermoore really? Dexter leaned into Lyra and whispered "Where is the bluff?"

She whispered back with a pointed finger. "A half mile that way. Look for the banners."

Dexter grinned and leaned closer to kiss her lips softly. Lyra blushed and glanced away. Dexter had only kissed her a few times before. He rolled his eyes at her bashfulness. Leonidas looked in irritation at him but didn't do anything. Dexter suddenly jumped off the section and transformed to a nevermoore quickly. His claws sunk into the floor with a loud thump and his wings flared out to the side. He beat them mightily and flew into the air. People yelled and a cloud of dust flew up.

Dexter ignored that all and flew off in the direction Lyra had pointed. A trilling shriek rang out from him and he disappeared north towards the bluff.


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: What do you all think of a lemon? I think it was pretty much shown clearly last chapter that Dexter is heavily favoring Lyra over Laura, who has some issues that she needs to work out.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 30**

 **The past**

The bluff was nice. A tall cliff with a trail leading up for a steep quarter mile to the top, where a withered tree lay. The cliff was made of pale yellow slabs and shards of rock. Somebody could scramble up it the whole way to reach the top if they wanted. It was just far faster to take the beaten trail than go bushwhacking, discounting that there were no bushes. A smattering of boulders and juttings or rock dotted the cliffside as well.

Dexter could do a number of things with the boulders. A brace of bone and a tripwire would send boulders tumbling down. A thin sheet of bone over a pit and some dust to make it more natural would work well too. There were some more creative ones to take advantage of the landscape as well. He only set a few. Maybe ten or fifteen around the pathway and for any sneaky types that would go up the cliffside.

For the most part Dexter played beringel and brought boulders to the top of the hill. He would be dropping them as a nevermoore from the skies on any who decide to come up the cliff. After almost thirty minutes of setting traps and collecting boulders Dexter was bored. He changed to a nevermoore and flew out to see the rest of the battlefield.

It seemed to be just starting. The Valkyries were rushing from their squat tower to the sandy pit, which must be what they called the poor man's colosseum, and the smaller bluff than Dexter's. There were three squads of what looked like eight to ten people and another squad of eight headed around the bluff to his cliff. He rang a trill out at them and saw them slow and run harder towards the cliff of his, being unguarded except for traps.

The Nikos' had sent out twenty people to the poor man's colosseum, eight men to the lake, and left almost seven men at the bunker. A good ten men were headed towards the cliffs. Whether they were going for the lesser or greater bluff only time would tell.

Dexter thought it was a little unfair that the Nikos clan could field more members than the Valkyrie clan but there wasn't much he could do about it. The Nikos clan was simply bigger. The Valkyries were small, having only a bit more than thirty members posted with the clan and about twenty in the field doing jobs. The Nikos clan numbered about a hundred and kept some twenty or thirty of their clan in Mistral and the rest in their forward operating base with the army here in Vacuo.

Dexter felt satisfied that he had seen most everything and went back into his bluff. He caught the Valkyrie squad running through the pathway and he trilled a greeting at them. The looked in fear as he flew overhead. He ignored their looks and flew the short ways to the top, where he grabbed a boulder and flew out.

The boulder dropped fast and the Valkyries yelled out as they scattered. One of them yelled orders and and the squad of eight split into four groups of two.

One group shot bolts of lightning from a man's hands and some shards of ice or fire from a girl's dust rifle. They didn't really hurt much so Dexter ignored them. Three other groups went up the cliffside. Annoying. He had a few minutes before they reached the top though.

Dexter continued dropping boulders and took out two Valkyrie clan members with a lucky shot and a trap. The bolt guy was also low on aura because he ran his aura down trying to hurt Dexter (He didn't. His semblance wasn't very powerful and he missed every other bolt).

Finally the group was near the top. Dexter could also see the group of Nikos clan members approaching the cliff but circling the perimeter far away from the base of the camp… Oh! They were making sure the Valkyries fell first. Between Dexter and them they would get knocked out of the battle from a shattered aura. Good tactics. Something the Valkyries seemed to lack. Lyra was not the best at tactics it seemed although she was an inspirational leader to her clan.

Dexter turned to a faunus and readied his bow with three arrows of ares. He released them and the Valkyries either jumped out of the way or, in one case, hunkered behind a shield. The arrow hit the feet of the shield guy and he was blasted backwards and tumbling down the cliff. The other two dodged their arrows. The wind was messing with his shots. He would have to aim better.

Dexter amusedly shot arrows at the foes, occasionally using a little dust for an extra kick. The Valkyrie eventually regrouped and Dexter let them have their new tactic with just one fast normal arrow to clip the back of the shield guy, who had more aura than most it seemed.

After a few minutes of Dexter toying with them all four charged out behind shield guy. Dexter shot an arrow at the people behind him and was shocked to find it repelled. He narrowed his eyes and peered at their auras. The shield man was projecting his aura to make a large forcefield. An aura technique. Dexter couldn't imagine it being a very useful one. His allies couldn't shoot back at him. Not that they could. Their only ranged guys were sitting farther down taking potshots at the Nikos clan members. Well, the musket girl. The man was too low on aura to act except keep an eye on both sides.

Dexter pummeled the man's aura with arrows in groups of three as much as he could. The man got almost directly in front of Dexter before his aura gave out. He gasped and a teammate behind him threw him to safety where he scraped his chin on a rock and was ignored as he jogged off the battlefield.

The three engaged Dexter but he didn't do anything and instead disengaged. "Fine. You all can have it." The three stopped and almost fell down in shock as they halted their attack. "Splitting up was smart. That four of you made it up here was pretty good. That final sacrifice? Well…" Dexter looked to the shield guy, who was breathing hard over on the side.

"Good job. I'll make sure you get your favorite food when we get back. Rest now. You did well."

"Fish tacos!" He gasped out. Dexter frowned.

"I don't think we have any fish and I don't know what a taco is but I'll look around a little." The man nodded in understanding. Fish was hard to find in the desert.

"Anyway… Are you going to gra it or not?" Dexter waved to the banner with the Nikos clan symbol on it, an elaborate gold and red emblem of a diagonally pointed spear surrounded by laurels.

One slim girl gratefully grabbed it without hesitation. "Thanks!" She chirped. "Now… you mentioned something about flying earlier… right?"

Dexter smirked and turned to a nevermoore. He tilted a wing down and the three got up onto it with some disbelieving laughs. One girl pulled the shield guy up with a smile and pulled him on by his hand just a little too close to her chest for friendship… the guy didn't notice. Well, none of Dexter's business. He would be fine. Dexter would keep an eye on them. The guy was at a sliver of aura. What had regenerated in the past minute or so. Aura typically took about two or three hours to regenerate fully. If the man was going along with it Dexter would be fine with him going with the group though.

Dexter took off with a whoosh and screams echoed behind him on his back. A brief and, in his opinion, rather peaceful glide, took him and his passengers down the cliffside. A slope downward and he snatched up the two ranged people in his claws.

Now he had a bit of a conundrum. One of the two girls on his back, the one without the banner, was reassuring the two on his back. They stopped yelling and struggling and all but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the Nikos blockade.

Dexter had intended to drop people at the edge of the bluff. Most people probably interpreted it as such too. He couldn't just drop his passengers down in the midst of the Nikos'. That would hardly be fair.

After a moment of indecision Dexter came to a decision. He flew over the Nikos clan lowly and landed after dropping the ranged members in his claws. A bucking of his back and a harsh flapping of wings and the rest of the members were bucked off.

Dexter then took off and flew low over the Nikos clan, who looked angry at him. Preferential treatment? Not really. Fairness. The Nikos clan could probably chase the group of six down unless the Valkyries made it over to a base they owned. The problem, then, was finding a base they owned.

The greater bluff was closest to the lesser bluff. It lay about a quarter mile from it. If the Valkyries hurried they could make it in maybe five minutes of running. But did they own that point? It would be safer to run to their home base? It was about a half mile away… could they make it before the NIkos clan ran them down?

Well… Dexter could only let them run.

With a high pitched series of caws that resembled laughter Dexter flew back to his little bluff. To his disappointment the Nikos clan hadn't ventured into his bluff. A shame. Well, less work for him.

Dexter flew to the top and got out his secret weapon. His hammock. He had snuck into his team's apartment and grabbed it with a small note that his hammock was his and his alone.

Dexter sighed deeply and smiled as he hung from the withered tree. In the distance a massive storm brewed and struck mightily at the ground in booms. A desperate cacophony of roaring was faintly heard a little later. Dexter ignored them.

A minute later the two female Valkyries he had knocked out of the games earlier peeked up. Dexter beckoned them up and they talked a little. Their names were Terra and Kellan. As it turned out Terra had a telescope. Dexter peeked through it and saw the Valkyries holding the cliff with the banner - oh! They made it! Good for them! - and the tower had several tense looking Valkyries passing around a telescope of their own. They looked to Dexter and they waved at each other.

The Nikos clan held the lake and their bunker. Of the most interest was the poor man's colosseum, which was hotly contested. Lyra's storm made it hard to see into it but it was clear that there was a lot happening in there from the flashes and the sounds of battle that could be heard from his vantage point.

Upon passing the telescope Dexter looked at the auras and his breath caught. It was a mosaic of two titans, Lyra and Leonidas, slugging it out in massive swells of aura. Her aura was slowly being siphoned into the storm to maintain it in several tendrils grasping into the air like some sort of kraken.

Around her most all of her clan was fighting fiercely with the Nikos clan members. It was ironic that Mistral banned art. If this wasn't art then nothing could be considered art. Emotions made the auras shine like stars that blended together.

Terra and Kellan chatted and took turns on the telescope. Dexter shot a lizard and made a tiny campfire with the dry wood before cooking it. It was like a little picnic. Terra's semblance, some weak terrakinesis ironically, though it only applied to dirt, let her find some raw salt that Dexter broke down in a pestle and mortar he made of bone. The Lizard was pretty good actually.

Dexter and the other two ate a few lizards at a slow pace and Dexter learned a bit about the two. Terra was a merchant's daughter. He slept with a Valkyrie in an affair on his part, unknowingly on her mother's, and left not knowing she was pregnant. He never returned and people expect that he fell to grimm or bandits.

The lack of a father figure kind of broke Terra up. She went through some stuff and just recently dealt with it a few years ago. She's nineteen now. Of course she got some disdain from being born out of wedlock but the Valkyries are pretty forward and don't really have a hard time over things like that. Some of them aren't even officially married apparently and just live together and call themselves married.

She really wanted into the B squad of Valkyries but she just didn't have a good semblance for it. She was one of the most skilled in duel wielding axes in her entire age group and one of the best in the clan just behind Barlow, an elder, who she had actually learned from, but she just had that roadblock.

Dexter recommended a few things. Her semblance was too slow to be used quickly but opening up a hollow under the ground and leading a person into it was something she never considered. From there a little push could bury somebody alive. Aura techniques were a good substitute for a strong semblance with their versatility.

Terra said she would take his advice under consideration and try to find a tutor. She was probably subtly hinting for him to offer but he was under the opinion that making aura techniques should be self taught as he and Joan did. He voiced this but Terra was doubtful.

Kellan was a lot more average than Terra. She had some natural talent but only got to C rank, where the average huntress or huntsman was, and just decided to slow down to a near halt. She instead focused on raising a family. She found a husband in a childhood sweetheart of hers and had kids. She was nearly thirty eight.

Kellan also tried her hand in painting, which she could do since she was good at it and didn't care to paint sad stuff. She made a fair amount of lien off of it too so she only took huntress jobs for fun and to explore new things to paint.

Dexter actually really liked Kellan. Not having a desire for strength was fine. She was a Valkyrie so she was probably pressured to be a huntress. HUnter clans apparently received a tax if a clan member wasn't pursuing a huntress career and a subsidy if they raised a strong one registered at B rank or above. Kellan didn't want to be a burden and had no great talents so she tried her hand at a huntress and is okay at it.

He offered her a… what did she call it? A pallette? As well as an easel and canvas made of really smooth bone. He offered that she paint the storm and battle and Kellan excitedly hopped to it with some paints she always had on her. Dexter had to make a paintbrush for her out of fine hair and bone. Water was a little harder. Dexter didn't want to fly out to the lake so he just made twenty or so paintbrushes of various types and left Kellan to toss the one she was using away whenever she was done with hers.

Like that Dexter, Terra, and Kellan spent the next thirty or fourty minutes. Kellan really was a good painter though. She made the storm quite well too. She only added a few details gratuitously. A few warriors could faintly be seen in the storm when in reality it was just seen through sounds and flashes. She painted the scene with the three of them in it as well. Dexter personally liked the detail put onto him as well. It made him look very noble and handsome. Terra's words. Not his.

|-\\\/-|

"DEXTER!" Lyra yelled up at him. He sighed and roused himself from his small nap in his hammock and gazed blearily down at Lyra at the bottom of the bluff. "WE'RE ALL DONE NOW SO YOU WANNA GO?! AND LEO WANTS TO SPEAK WITH YOU!"

Dexter took down his hammock deftly and nudged Terra awake on a warm rock beside him and his hammock. She mumbled and woke up quickly. Kellan was gone. On a rock was the words "Left home. Thanks for the canvas. I'll keep in touch. -K"

Dexter took his hammock and passed it to Terra, who looked at him curiously. "I can't take it back with me so could you hold on to it for me?" She nodded and folded it up a bit more before squeezing it in one of the larger pouches on her waist and moving a dust crystal to a different pouch.

"Thank you." Dexter said with a nod before he flew off as a nevermoore. A minute of searching later and he saw a congregation of the Nikos clan chattering amongst themselves as they patched up some minor wounds and traded anecdotes from the match.

Leonidas was chatting with an older man while his wounds were being tended to by a woman with a heat based semblance that she used on her hands, which glowed red. She heated the metal and wrought it to a more proper shape all across his metal body. Dexter laughed a little at this internally. It was amusing for some reason.

Dexter formed himself to a faunus and landed in front of Leonidas without any tricks or anything. "Ah, you're here." Leonidas said calmly. Dexter was pleased to see that his faunus ears and tail were both still on him.

"I want to… apologise." Leonidas said with some reluctance. Dexter raised an eyebrow at Leo curiously, inviting him to explain. He did so. "I have attempted to court Lyra in front of you as well as attempt to rob you of her." He said with a frown.

"I realize that this was… ugh, dishonorable of me. I abhor the dishonorable now, though I was different in my youthful escapades. You have been nothing if not honorable and courteous. You may have angered some of my clan with what I've heard about leaving the Valkyries further out than all assumed but I saw the Valkyries. They were beaten as whipped dogs when they arrived to the lesser bluff and they barely made it to the Valkyrie's tower. You acted with fairness in that regard. While I don't appreciate the action I can understand it. I can't say I haven't done similar actions in my career. You'll have no enmity from me in that matter."

"Your point?" Dexter asked plainly. He tried to keep his tone as offensive as he could.

"Ah. Well, I attempted to steal your… mate?" He asked questioningly. Dexter frowned. For him that term might very well apply. His instincts could be pretty strong at times. For most faunus the term was seen as rather offensive.

"My fiance." He said plainly. He kind of liked the idea of Lyra as his mate though… he'll wouldn't say that out loud though.

"Hm. Well, I attempted to rob you of your fiance, attempted to court her in front of you publicly, and assigned you the term of a mongrel. I apologise for all three offenses." Dexter nodded.

"I'm unoffended. I do believe I punished you enough for that." A look towards his ears brought that to mind as well as the chew toy incident.

"No you haven't." Leonidas said gravely. Dexter frowned.

"I insulted your honor and I know you are an honorable man in action and a thick skinned one at the insults of others. I have repented for my losing of a gamble between us. This is not a repenting for my blows to your honor. It is the results of a deal. I would allow you to lay a punishment upon me for my insults upon you."

Dexter shook his head exasperatedly. "Your apology i-"

"My apology is a hand to shake. Not an offering of peace." Leonidas interrupted. Dexter frowned and Leonidas took the opportunity to explain a little with heat in his voice.

"When I was young I was an idiot! I was an ass to the peasantry, looked down on those weaker than I, flaunted my status as a huntsman for whatever I desired, and was an arrogant short little prick. Always was, and looked to always be." Leo's sudden change of tone from the formal and restrained tone to such emotion breaking through caught Dexter off guard. Leonidas didn't stop there though.

"I sought to pursue Lyra for her body rather than her greater qualities-" A brief anger sprung up in Dexter but he refrained from acting on it. "-treated her poorly for any man towards one such as her, and when she finally decided to leave, and she did so quite kindly and honestly, I lashed out like a rabid dog. My image in her eyes was forever stained and she despises me still."

Dexter nodded. She had adamantly talked of Leonidas' cruelty and arrogance. Perhaps she was wrong though. Leonidas and the others looked like assholes but they weren't that bad. They had their own breed of kindness.

"Still, though, when I returned home and demanded - actually demanded - from my father of all people that she be mine by arranged marriage he struck me! He called me an arrogant fool and nearly cast me out for talking so. I barely held onto my clan heir position and my sister was very nearly given the position despite not wanting it! For two years I never understood it but then finally one day it came to me. I was an absolute arse and an unhappy one at that. That was why I wanted Lyra. For her happiness. To siphon it off of her like some sort of leech!"

"I despised myself after that. I actually asked my father to give the position of clan heir to my sister I hated myself so! My father laughed in my face and told me that my self reflection had actually done me some good. He directed me to my clan to better myself and redeem myself."

"I worked tirelessly to help my clan under my father's wishes. It took all of their efforts actively to make me stop being such an unhappy person then! I owe everything to my clan because of that. But more than everything I want to repay Lyra. She was the start of me becoming far better a person than I was. I don't care whether I marry her or not anymore. I love her more for her service towards me than a romantic light but I know that she yearns for a family. She tries to replace it with her clan but it doesn't work that way."

"When we fought we talked as well. She hates me truly. My acts here have only reinforced my image of that in her eyes. I don't care anymore. I know our relationship is irredeemable. But more than anything she loves you. Actually loves you. I don't know how you did it but she wants to be with you and I know you are a good man despite being animal-kin! So please! Please give me a chance to repay Lyra!"

A few of the men had stopped working but a glare sent them back to minding their own business. Dexter looked towards Leonidas and sighed deeply. How had he gotten wrapped up in this?

"I see…" He said. Leonidas' presumed debt to Lyra was… more than he should be dealing with. Matters of love were more than he should be dealing with. Why is he in this mess? Leo was right though. Lyra did hate him. His talk with her had shown him that. He knew now that that flare in her eyes was hatred. Real hatred. That same spark had ignited when she looked to him for the first time at the arenas.

"Your debt can't be redeemed through me." Dexter spoke tiredly. He wished he could just go back to his hammock. "Lyra won't ever talk to you and anything you did say would be considered some sort of plot or something of the sort. She truly does hate you. The Valkyrie clan doesn't need anything either. So… in an hour of need be there for Lyra." Leonidas looked pensive.

"A favor when needed is far more useful than one without need." Dexter said seriously. "This isn't about money or power. This is about honor and repayment. Repay her for changing your life for the better by being there to change hers when she needs it." Hopefully that works.

Leonidas slowly nodded. "I… suppose I can do that. Waiting is the hardest thing for any man to do but that would indeed serve as penance. Very well. I'll see her through an hour of need. That I can do." Dexter smiled in relief and nodded. There wasn't anything else he could think of that Leonidas could do other than postpone the favor.

"I hope to see you again." Dexter said. Leonidas smiled.

"As friends." Dexter grinned and sniggered. "Of course. Will you be keeping your more fashionable attire?" A pointed look to the ears and Leonidas glared a little.

"I take it back. You're a mongrel." Dexter smirked and separated as he took off as a bird.

|-\\\/-|

"How did your.. Talk go?" Lyra asked. "Ooh! Did you punch him?!" Dexter rolled his eyes.

"He apologised for having tried to court you in front of you."

Lyra made an 'ugh' sound. "Yes he is very concerned with honor and reputation. Boring and formal too." Dexter shrugged. He had apparently never broken his formal speech when Lyra was around apparently.

Dexter shrugged and Lyra took that as a point to change the subject. "So do you have anything planned for today?" Dexter smiled.

"Well first I need to get some gold and trade it for a painting. Kellan, a girl who was relaxing at the peak of my bluff with me when she was separated from the squad you sent to the greater bluff, made an excellent painting of the battle from my view. I want to know how long the painting will keep for and maybe buy it."

"Oh, she uses oil paints." Lyra said. "They last about, ah, fourty or so years if they're kept right."

"Where did you learn about paints?"

"I took art classes when I was younger. This was a little after the alliance happened so nobody was really taking Mantle's demands for self suppression seriously. They were more popular back then. Not many people are into artsey stuff now. It's kind of risky whether you'll be labeled as somebody who makes negativity or just an artist. People almost always just paint as a hobby. It's less risky that way so that if you're banned from making art you have a job to fall back on."

Dexter nodded. It was a reasonable decision for artists to make. It probably made a lot of art less good than it was before the self suppression but oh well. He didn't care all that much. There were more ways to express oneself than art and it wasn't as though all art was restricted.

"Interesting. Do you know if we have any fish at the hold?" Lyra looked at him confusedly.

"Fish? Um… no. I don't think so."

"The shield guy wanted fish tacos. He was in the squad, knows that aura technique to make a big shield, and has a huge aura pool?"

"Oh! That's Dam! Yeah he's awesome. He got a broken leg today by the way. He really shouldn't have come down with so little aura. We have a person with a healing semblance at the base. They're kind of rare but since we have me and a few other clans of prominence with us she's around. Really nice girl. Cynthia, I believe her name is."

Dexter smiled. "Fish?"

"Yeah, no. No fish."

"Do you know of any fish around somewhere? Any at all?"

"I know Vacuo has some dried fish. Not very good and expensive too but it's better than nothing. Want me to come with you?"

"No thanks. I'll head out tomorrow and get him some soon. What are tacos anyways?"

"They're a Vacuan food. Dam has always loved them. Fish tacos especially. They're a flour… tortoise I think it's called? I don't know the name. It's probably wrong. A sort of soft floppy disc of fake bread that's holding some fish and lettuce and stuff like a sandwich that curves. It's kind of weird."

"That does sound kind of weird. I've never heard of something like that."

"Yeah. It's not really a popular food in Vacuo either. They just came up with it. They didn't really like it."

"Hm. Does Mistral have any foods they made?"

"Oh yeah. Sushi, pita, calimari, and a ton of other dishes with rice and stuff. It kind of varies with where you go. Anima has a really diverse climate and until roads and other forms of travel were established everybody was super isolated and made mini-cultures. Like in the eastern peninsula, which is pretty much just a strip of desert, there's a ton of exotic and strange foods. In the west, though, there's a lot of fish stuff and rice stuff. In the middle, where there's a ton of mountains we have pasta and stuff."

"Interesting. Tell me more…"

|-\\\/-|

Dinner was a nice affair. The stories were boisterous and exciting. Boli, a large man, had had his trousers pulled down halfway through the fight when his belt was cut by accident. He had fought in his underwear for the rest of the battle soaking wet from the storm. Jenna, a somewhat average looking lady with fantastic fashion sense (she wore a cloak) had survived in the middle of three different Nikos warriors for five minutes disarmed until her friend Fal came by and backstabbed two of them.

Stories like that were commonplace. Dexter recounted his own about tossing rocks down and Dam's bravery in the face of his explosive arrows. Dam had gotten a good pat on the back for that and Dexter gave his word that he would run out to Vacuo the next day for some dried fish for his tacos.

Kellan's painting was also cheered for. It wasn't great but she had worked tirelessly on it when she got back to show it when it was still fresh in people's memories. She really made Dexter's eyes pop and the lightning flash was done quite beautifully. The warrior silhouettes were a little dimmed as well.

It was a hit and placed in a hallway of the holding. The only issue was that nobody had any idea how well paint lasted when painted on bone. Kellan and two other painters planned to make more of the paintings and spread them around since everybody liked them.

Eventually Dexter and Lyra retired to bed. Lyra disrobed and got into her nightgown and Dexter got into his soft trousers and got rid of his shirt. What dust was left of the games he put onto Lyra's shelf.

When he got onto the bed he thought of doing _that_ with Lyra… he'd like to. Not have a child so quickly but it might be nice. They were courting after all. It really wasn't so complex a situation as he was making it. So maybe… he would be okay with that. Yeah. It would be nice.

Lyra got back and looked to be laying down when Dexter leaned in and kissed her on the mouth. She made a noise of surprise but leaned into it. She was obviously more experienced than Dexter but it was obvious that she didn't mind. Dexter didn't mind either.

For maybe a minute they tried making out. Lyra ended up straddling Dexter, her heart racing so hard that Dexter could hear it clearly. An ear twitched in slight irritation but he ignored it. When they seperated Dexter asked "Do you think we're ready? For that?"

Lyra's eyes lit up. "Absolutely." She spoke without hesitation. "But what made you change tones so quickly?" Dexter smiled softly.

"Leonidas mentioned how you valiantly proclaimed your love for me on the battlefield. Or at least with your actions. He didn't really want to get into details, as you can imagine."

Lyra blushed. "I, ah, it wasn't that valiant." Dexter smirked, smelling blood in the water.

"What did you say, exactly? So I can say how valient it was precisely and admire your eloquence."

Lyra blushed harder. "He's mine you rancid horse shit."

Dexter snickered. "Eloquence at it's finest."

"I may have also said something along the lines of 'My heart belongs to him! You can't tempt me away from him because I love him with all of my being!'"

Dexter withheld his laughter somewhat and only half the clan compound heard it instead of the whole compound. "That's so ridiculously cliche! Why would you say something like that!"

Lyra looked to him with only a little annoyance. "Shutup." and she leaned in for another kiss, which Dexter accepted easily.

That night was a very interesting affair.


	31. Chapter 30 lemon

**AN: So I originally wasn't going to post this but some people seemed curious about it. I'm also going to have to take a little time not posting for the final chapter so a little compensation outside the norm seemed nice to do. I might also do a series of omakes if people are up for it. Actually now that I'm thinking about it that's a really good idea. I get to come back to the characters, amuse you all with one of the best parts of this story, and it's fun to make omakes. Not all of them will be great but some of them will at least. Yeah I'm going to be doing some of those I think.**

 **Just to be sure you all do realize this is a lemon, right? It's not even a very controversial one. Just don't be rude about it. If you're sensitive to stuff like this and don't want to read it don't. For those of you that do let your perverted side run free, as seems to be the online norm these days, enjoy. I think it's pretty good myself but I don't think it's anything special. I just tried to not do ridiculous stuff like 'And then he stuck his thirty inch schlong into her fiery snatch. Her triple D sized breasts bounced majestically as the fifty other girls in this guy's harem watched with absolute love in their eyes.' Sure that smutty word porn is okay but I'm here to write a story. Not porn. This is, to me, like an omake basically. Just a different breed of it.**

 **Anyways, enjoy.**

 **LEMON WARNING!**

 **YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! BEYOND THIS POINT LIES PERVERSITY!**

Lyra pushed him down onto the bed and pulled his trousers down. "Huh?" she was a little confused when she saw he wasn't hard. "Wait, do you-"

"I use my semblance to keep blood from flowing there when I'm aroused practically by reflex now." He explained as he rose. Lyra gained an understanding expression.

"I thought you were just… little." She said embarrassedly. Dexter gave a faux insulted look.

"And I thought you were a pervert who gets off on fighting." Lyra froze. "I have a keen sense of smell. You didn't really take a shower when we first sparred. Or when I kicked your ass the other few times." Lyra seemed to have short circuited.

Dexter kissed her again to bring her back to lucidity. She looked at him with a massive blush after he finished. She also smelled absolutely delicious in her nether regions. Strongly too. "I really don't mind." He said. Lyra didn't hesitate before pushing him on the bed and getting on top of him.

Dexter didn't have much time to speak before she pulled aside her panties and impaled herself on him. He breathed in sharply. The feelings were sharper than he imagined. Lyra sighed in relief as she rolled her hips. Dexter groaned at the feelings from her snatch. Why was he not doing this before?

Lyra traced a hand down his pecs as she rode him and leaned in for another kiss. She gazed lovingly and hotly into his eyes. Dexter took an experimentive thrust upwards and found that he quite liked that. He tried a few more and Lyra seemed to enjoy it as well with how she was smiling and breathing a bit more heavily.

The two stayed like that for just a little while as Lyra rode him and Dexter thrusted upwards when he could, developing a steady rhythym. Eventually, though, the pose got stale and Dexter took the initiative to change it. Neither of them were much the slow and steady type anyways. He turned her over and quickly removed her nightgown and kicked his pants off.

Lyra gasped as he tried taking the dominant role this time. He found that he liked it more than the submissive role that he had been using before. He didn't spend his time just bluntly thrusting though. He measured for the best angle that made her moan just right or gasp a little harder than the others. Finally he found just the right spot and she cried out and gripped onto him hard as she clenched.

Dexter's eyes widened and he felt her snatch move in a fantastic way. He thrusted just a little more on that spot and the cries increased in volume. He lost focus for a moment and his body lost control. He pulled out and came on her waist and she panted hotly. Had she came? The look of some bliss said that yes. She had.

Lyra looked at his semen on her waist and she stood up. "That was… really good for a first time. How did you hold for so long though? I was at my limit for a few minutes there. And I'm even more experienced than you!" Dexter smiled and kissed her.

"Semblance."

She scowled. "That's actually fair game. Well done. You lost concentration?" Dexter nodded and she smiled. "Good. I want you to lose concentration more. Just this time… inside?" Dexter's eyes widened.

"You're sure?" She nodded.

"I'm confident we'll be married. I love you." Something in Dexter perked up and he quickly kissed her harshly. She moaned as he worked harder this time than before.

Lyra pushed him upwards and leaned back herself. Dexter got onto his knees and positioned himself in front of her. He entered more quickly than last time and she yelped at the speed. He didn't slow down the pace. He focused on finding that right spot again and stuck there. This time, though…

Dexter eyed Lyra's clitoris. He experimentally flicked it and a small gasp escaped Lyra. "Oh that's good!" Dexter smiled and rubbed it between two of his fingers as he thrusted into her. Continuing to experiment he pulled her upwards and grabbed onto her breast. Her eyes widened as he groped her.

Lyra leaned into Dexter and kissed him again and Dexter was hard pressed to grope, rub, kiss, and thrust just right all at once. Sex was hard work… Lyra leaned out and looked heatedly into his eyes.

This time Lyra decided to change positions and she got onto her hands and knees. Dexter smiled as he impaled her once more. She missed a breath as he thrusted in. He went a little faster than usual this time and enjoyed the sound of her ass as he thrusted against it.

After a few minutes of this Lyra was close so he decided to go out with a bang. He pulled her upwards and pushed her down onto her stomach again. Her breasts rubbed against the blanket and she moaned at the new stimulation.

Dexter growled and caressed her head and cupped her breasts as he plowed her onto the bed. He eventually hit a sensitive spot and Lyra gasped out "Dexter!" as she came a second time. Dexter came as well but he didn't stop thrusting this time. If anything he went faster as he moved from caressing to pinching her nipple with one hand and grabbing her ass with the other.

A few seconds of this and Lyra relaxed and Dexter stayed in her for a moment. "Wow." Lyra said in between pants. "Where'd you learn that?" Dexter nibbled her neck and she giggled.

"Just now. I wasn't sure if any of that would work. Also, your heart rate increases when I hit the right spot."

Lyra smiled brilliantly and pulled off of him. A feeling of small satisfaction was felt in Dexter as a string of white left with him. "You came a lot… Semblance again?" Dexter kissed her tenderly this time, which was answer enough. Lyra sighed and pulled him down to the covers, which were mostly untouched besides a few damp places.

"Mmmmm." Lyra smiled and hummed as she cuddled into Dexter's chest. "I like you dominant. You're good at it." Dexter kissed her one more time and closed his eyes.

"I like it as well… perhaps we should do this more often." Lyra laughed softly into his chest.

"Yeah. We're doing this again. Do you know how nice that was? Besides, You're still inexperienced. You need practice." Dexter smiled and fell to sleep as Lyra did.

"I love you too…" he said softly. How strange that he could say that.


	32. Chapter 31

**AN: School has been… rough. Very rough since we finally hit that period right after the first (or is it second?) quarter. I'll admit to also have been sucked into red dead redemption. My dad plays it too and I don't see him often since he lives pretty far away while I live with my mother. We're planning to play together a bit when it goes online. It's not quite an excuse that you all want but that's what happened.**

 **There is, however, a somewhat larger issue. I've finally run out of pre-made chapters.**

 **That is a pretty big problem for me. I think I know how I want this story to end since leaving it open-ended at this point right before the climax of the story would just plain suck as a person but I really want these last few chapters to be great. With that said they're going to take awhile to make properly.**

 **Some people might get a bit mad about the delay but that's just how the cookie crumbles (Ruby cries out in the background over her dying cookie). I've got a lot of questions that need answering as far as the plot goes though. Essence and Salem, the monster in the mansion and his connection to Salem, the future and how it changes, and so on.**

 **I hope you all can be understanding and I'll try to lay off video games and focus more on this book now that it's actually hit the point where it's disrupted my writing schedule. It might take… I dunno, a week? Two? Probably about that much time before I get the chapter out, which hopefully will be good rather than the quantity versus quality deal I have going on.**

|-\\\/-|

 **Grimm souls chapter 31**

 **The before**

The next week after the games were… nice. Dexter and Lyra sparred a lot, which led to her indulging in her… kink more often. That, of course, led to Dexter and her finding a private space more often. Definitely a nice time.

Sadly, though, all good things come to an end.

"High alert?" Dexter murmured to himself. A letter from the general of the Mistralian army had sent the letter to Lyra. He and Lyra were reading through the missives and letters in their daily paperwork session.

Lyra reached over and plucked the letter from his hands. She scanned over it hastily. "Oh no…" She said grimly. "Me and my clan are being called to the army. The Valean army and the Mistralian army finally ran into each other through their main forces. Skirmishes just ramped up extremely. A stalemate in two small parties and the main forces were summoned. It's not an all out attack yet… that's tomorrow. Today there's a mass extermination from Mistral in the kingdom's controlled territory. No-man's land is going to be hunted out and a charge tomorrow morning…"

"So you'll be heading out immediately to sweep the battlefield and tomorrow…" Dexter looked at the letter hostilely. Lyra nodded with a small frown.

"Well… you should go." Dexter sighed and leaned across the dest to kiss her slowly.

"If I see you on the battlefield I'll try to capture you by the way." Lyra smirked. "I'm tempted to just capture you here but…" Lyra shrugged.

"It's an odd situation." Dexter agreed. "We're sort of like independently acting delegates… who happen to be engaged." Lyra said with a small smile.

"I'll probably see you tomorrow. Or at least you'll be seeing me. Remember, treat me like an enemy. I'll do the same. Let's just try to not keep grudges after this."

Lyra smiled softly. "I know you're… well not really an enemy but more like a third party that's contracted to Vale." Dexter nodded.

"... When I say you'll be seeing me tomorrow I mean you'll almost certainly be seeing me tomorrow. And Laura for the first time… it's not going to be pretty."

Lyra winced slightly. Laura would have a serious bone to pick with her and an angry huntress with immense power was a bad thing for her health. "You should go now… stay alive. It might be selfish but try to not kill members of my clan."

"Try not to kill my friends. White armor and the Arc clan symbol will help you see Joan. Rella won't be on the battlefield but she makes golems so just don't kill the golem maker if you can. As for Laura… you'll see her. Brown cloak. Besides that you'll know. She's S class."

Lyra winced again. Harder this time since the idea of two S classes would definitely be a large event. In all likelihood everyone would just run away from them, letting them have their own little arena to fight in. "What are your friend's rankings?" Dexter, despite the fact that he probably shouldn't, smiled a little. "Joan's A+ class but he might be bumped up to S- when he reveals his trump card. Rella's a solid B- since she isn't great at fighting but her golems are rather strong now. Mancer, though you won't see him, was at the lower ends of the B+ rank. Laura is sort of the mass destruction type. Without her semblance she's a very low A-. Mass destruction is her forte."

Lyra looked thoughtfully at her desk's papers, though she wasn't reading them. "I'll try but your friends will be high priority targets. Besides Rella. The only one I can promise is Rella. My Valkyries are going to be on the middle and front lines. We won't see anyone in the back."

"I'll be on the front lines."

"I know. You're too valuable to be placed otherwise. I'll certainly be fighting in the thickest. We'll see each other."

"You know I haven't ever gone completely all out sparring you, right?"

"Obviously."

Dexter smiled and abruptly shifted and flew out of the window. Lyra reached for him but pulled her hand back. A glance behind him showed her staring sadly at the letter. He could feel his instincts murmuring at him of bad things to come. He didn't need to know that though. He already figured that out himself. Either way, this was just about it in the war for him.

|-\\\/-|

"I'm back." Joan's hand immediately sprang towards his weapon but he stilled himself before it was fully out. He wasn't looking well. Nothing along the lines of darkened eyes but a sort of twitchy energy and a tense seriousness in his eyes. He exhaled when he saw Dexter though and sat down on the couch.

"Oh… you heard then? We've been expecting you since yesterday." Joan seemed to force himself to relax and it sort of worked. He still kept his sword on the coffee table. What had made him like this? The thing?

"I just heard an hour ago." Dexter explained. "I came as soon as I heard." An understanding look passed over Joan's face.

"We've been preparing a full out assault for a few days. We were planning one for today and I'm expecting a call to arms any minute."

"Is that why you look like a guard dog on high alert?"

A stiff laugh forced it's way out of Joan's mouth. "No. That's because the king is meeting with Laura." He pointed a finger to the one bedroom they had. Normally Joan took the couch and Dexter his hammock and Rella the bed. Laura shared the bed when she arrived.

"... What's it about?" Dexter said with the same stiffness Joan had.

"Whether or not you're a traitor, a grimm, Laura's pet, a citizen of Vale, a huntsman, a wanderer… you get the point." Dexter blinked.

"Then why are you so tense if it's about me?"

"Because the whole team might be considered traitors for not turning you in. We didn't think anything about you turning into a grimm or anything by the way. We still don't. But the king… well he's kind of freaking out."

Just as Joan finished a bang sounded from the room. Yelling followed it. Laura and the King, from the voices. Dexter couldn't hear through the walls. It was too blurred from them talking at once as well.

"... I see." Dexter said solemnly. "I didn't expect this." Joan chuckled a little less nervously this time.

"It was pretty sudden. How's Lyra? We never really talked about it."

"I love her." Joan seemed to short circuit for a moment, blinking a few times and just getting that thought through his head.

"I-oh. Well… good for you? That was a, um, rather quick romance."

"Thank you. I'm sorry it made things awkward with the team. In all fairness I didn't expect to get betrothed while sneaking behind enemy lines. Or during a war. I didn't expect to be IN a war."

"Things have been happening quickly lately."

"Mmmm. You got the trump card down, right?" Joan smiled viciously.

"Absolutely. I've got it down to a science."

Dexter had the same grin on his face. "I've started incorporating dust into my fighting style. I can't incorporate it into my semblance weapons though. Bone doesn't really hold dust well. For a temporary boost it's fine but long term it's not good." Joan smiled and relaxed a little more. The small talk was reaching him and calming him down.

"Yeah. You know that some people can actually merge dust into their body, right? They're rare and it's super painful, and I mean like torturous, but it makes you stronger through your aura. Dust and aura make super strong aura apparently." Dexter smiled in an easygoing manner.

"I'll look into it."

"I'm actually proud of you, you know? You've come a long way from when we first met." Dexter tilted his head.

"What do you mean? I thought you've come along the most."

Joan shook his head. "I still read all the time and though you haven't seen it as much lately I still avoid people whenever possible. You and the others just got to me through. You, though, have changed immensely."

"You used to be so much more withdrawn and brooding. You would tune out conversations, didn't emote much, and left the others to do their own thing under the impression that you would just follow Laura and the rest of us would just pass on. Kind of like a really focused teenager. Also, though you never outwardly said it, you had a pack mentality. Laura first, you second, and the rest of us were beneath notice. Not in a cruel way but in a sort of understanding that that was the way it was." 

"Now? You actually have a facial expression other than pure neutrality, you're a way better fighter, you're not quite charismatic but you're better than most people, and most of all you're actually willing to open up to people. It's such an absurdly different picture from who you were just four years ago. You've grown up into your own person."

Dexter held a fond smile and he realized that… Joan was right. Before he would have been fine just being a dog and not communicating at all. Now… he couldn't imagine not talking to anybody for more than a few days. He was so much more social now. It was incredible really. How had he spent twenty years alone… he had barely matured at all in that time, huh? He hadn't really grown stronger then. He had just gotten some aura and a feel for battle. That wasn't strength.

Strength wasn't something like battle experience. It was more than that. It was a willingness to stick to your ideals. A power in you to bend to the will of others but never to break and never so serve.

It was so strange… he wasn't the same person he once was. A hollowness spread throughout Dexter's chest. Would his mother be proud that he had come into his own? Would she recognize him? Would she want him?

Did he need her?...

He had come so far. So very far. He had fought his kinsmen so much. But was he really a grimm anymore? He had feelings. He felt joy, fear, camaraderie, love, had hopes and dreams and desires. Was he…

" _Hello… kinsman… "_

Dexter's head jerked upwards. No. He was something else. Something neither grimm nor human. He was like his mother. He was alone in the world with only his mother beside him but he was by no means alone in full.

He had people around him. Friends. A love. No matter if Laura pined strongly for him or Lyra and he fell too quickly or if he had to leave his squad for a time… he was never truly alone.

He had first followed Laura for strength. Power. But that was such an immature thing to strive for. Really if power was what he wanted he had achieved it. He was a wild animal then. A being with no mind or heart for any but itself. No community to call it's own. Really he had nothing and no-one.

Laura had saved him in her own way. She was lonely too. She was barely hanging onto what made her human.

His mother was lonely. Incredibly so. Just a dog was no way to live. Not in the slightest… he had to help her…

He was ready to return to his mother. Every part of him finally agreed. Every time he wondered if he should return he thought he wasn't strong enough. Not worldly enough. Not different at all from who he was. For the first time just now every single part of him was in agreement. He no longer had his mother's purpose. He had no reason to wander. No reason to fight. Only to return to his mother. Because he was ready. Finally after more than twenty four years he finally understood what strength was and how she had meant her words.

" _Wander the world. Return should you become strong. Return if I order you to do so."_

For so long he had assumed that she had meant strength as the ability to kill. But it wasn't. Not at all. He was finally strong in a real way. He was finally… finally strong.

Dexter felt his body tremble and something leapt in him. He felt something on his face and he slammed his hand onto it. He pulled away and it came away wet. "Tears?" He said softly in a shaky voice.

"You're… crying?" Joan said in some wonder and surprise. "Not once have I ever seen you cry. Strange. We've been through a lot together, though. I understand. Looking back and finally realizing all you've been through… it's a lot, huh? I've done the same. A few times."

Scenes flashed through Dexter's mind. The first time Laura had kissed him. Meeting the squad for real the first time. Throwing himself in front of the fiend for Joan. His first aura technique. He had forgotten that one. That final exhilarating moment when he had found a home in his squad and made one with them. All the fun times he had had with them. His first drink. Even just last week. HIs first time with Lyra. His first kiss with her just a few days prior to that. So many memories.

Dexter sniffled. Damnit. His body just naturally made normal faunus bodily fluids from mimicking their biology. He had figured this out long ago but never really thought about it. He suppressed normal bodily functions like the need to drink and eat and pee and all. He had never needed to directly control his tear ducts though. Or his throat muscles.

"I… I'm going to sit down. I never realized that I changed so much."

"I understand. Rella hasn't really changed. She's still strict as ever. I suppose she's just like that. Well, actually she's a bit more tender now. Less strict. Laura's more powerful now. Definitely lives up to the S rank she has. She loves you, obviously, but she's a little more mature now. More mellow. Also a way better leader than before. Mancer got a bit less grumpy too. And far more deadly. I need to send a letter to him. See how he's doing. Oh, I got an arranged marriage from my family by the way."

"Huh?" Dexter said. He was still kind of out of it. He locked down on his emotions a bit and focused more on Joan's talking.

"Yeah. A childhood friend of mine. She's rich and my clan is mighty and honorable but that doesn't bring cash. I don't really mind. An arranged marriage is fine for me. We're going to be sending a few letters and I'll probably just be settled down after the war. I've served my part well enough already in a war zone. I've done more killing than my old man ever has. I'm tired of it already. I'm ready to just lie down on a bed somewhere and live watching kids run around. It sounds weirdly nice now. I'm only twenty seven and I'm sounding like my old man."

"I've never thought about kids before." Dexter muttered. Joan laughed.

"You're twenty four. Wait until you're twenty six. Then it hits you. I'll be seeing you when I'm old."

Dexter was silent. Growing old… he trusted Joan more than anything. More than Lyra or Laura or even himself. Joan was smart and kind… yes. He could tell him. "Joan I've got something to tell you. Something serious. It's… it's about my mother. I'll try to tell you after the battle. Or tonight if I get a chance in private. You might have actually connected the dots yourself. Or not."

Joan's nostalgic smile fell a little and he looked to Dexter. "Dexter.. What's so impor-" but he didn't get to finish.

The door to the bedroom slammed open with such force that it actually somewhat tore the hinges off the doorframe. Dexter didn't have a choice but to see the aura of the man that strided out. It was monstrously large. More than that though it was old. Older than the stars in the sky and far more wise than the oldest elder.

More than those pronounced traits was a subtle movement that struck a small fear into Dexter. It was just a little bit angry. Just the smallest stirring in it of agitation. Barely a swirl of aura out of an ocean of calm and rationality held in a vice grip of control. But it was this tiny sliver of anger that spoke of so much danger from the whole scheme of things. To bring things to a worse light, though, was a spark of fear fueling the anger. Just a fantastically small spark of pure fear.

Normally Dexter couldn't sense emotions from others. People's auras spoke of fear and anger and greed and other emotions in different ways. A sort of shaking wave or swirl for anger. A shiver for fear. A shivering wave for anger born of fear, which was more pronounced than normal anger. A swelling and pulsing in it for greed. An expanding lightness of color for happiness. A strange multi-layered swishing for lust. Some other ones as well.

This feeling, though, was pure. It wasn't just some anger. It wasn't just some fear. It was absolutely white hot fury and a fear so intense a hardened warrior would faint and die of a heart attack.

And all of it; every single bit of this petrifying fear and roaring anger; was pushed into a tiny corner of the aura as fuel for a stoic and calculating rationality and calm that pervaded the aura.

The man's physical appearance was surprisingly normal. His clothing was of light leather armor with green and gold decorations and embroidering. It wouldn't look out of place on a huntsman or a noble. It was deceptively functional as well, as all huntsman attire was.

The man was also surprisingly young. Not entirely unexpected in practice but in person it was very jarring to see such power and an attitude as such in one so young. He was maybe in his early forties or late thirties with a regal face and a muscled frame. What an odd combination for a king. He had the feel of one though. That air demanding respect and expressing power.

The monster in a man's skin looked towards him with an act of fury. It was fake but played so well. "You!" He yelled hotly. "You are Dexter Frost?"

"Yes sir." Dexter said calmly. Internally he was trying to calm his instincts, which screamed to run. It was hard but he got them under control rather quickly.

The man's gaze scoured him. Especially around his eyes. He must have come to some sort of verdict already because his aura had calmed from fear and anger so quickly it might have seemed false. Relief shuddered throughout his very soul. He basked in it. The facade of anger was still in place though. Such an odd disparity in emote and emotion was dizzying to Dexter. He still had to act the part of a terrified huntsman though.

"Where were you in the past week?" He growled, coming to loom over Dexter sitting in his chair.

"I was with my fiance, Lyra Frost." He responded in that same calmness.

"A fiance in Mistral?! Are you loyal to Vale?" The man's eyes narrowed. His aura was still mostly relieved. He really didn't care whatsoever if Dexter was loyal or not. He probably was just going to throw him at Laura to secure her loyalty and toss a few threats around to show he was the authority. Well, all of that in the most kingly manner he could do it.

"I am loyal to Lyra, Laura, and myself sir." Dexter said. The king cracked a small grin and a huff of what might be called respect if he wasn't dead to his emotions.

"...Interesting." The stoic monster said. "Have you any desire to defect?" The man's eyes pierced into Dexter. It was an uncomfortable sensation. He really was judging him even if a verdict had been decided.

"No sir. I merely wish to be with my beloved. I hold no sensitive information on Vale anyways. I am an outlying party to the war. I intend to settle after the war ends." The king nodded and looked to Joan.

"Sir Arc. Does he speak the truth? Does he know of any sensitive information to the war?" Joan looked pale.

"N-no sir. He knows only that the battle commences tomorrow. His official position is as Laura's aid as designated by her. Before that time he was indeed a third party to our squad posted in the eastern islands. He was more of a fifth member in practice, however."

The king looked to consider the words for a moment. "Very well… Dexter Frost, are you truly Frost or did Lady Frost designate that name to you?"

"She foisted the name upon me as we were filling out the documents registering me as her aide roughly two weeks ago. I hold no personal relationship to Laura other than a friend currently."

"She has pined after you after you rejected her advances, have you not?"

"Yes." Dexter said in a smaller voice than he would actually do. That he knew that the King already had a verdict ready really drew the tension out of his harsh questioning. He wasn't actually in any danger. He would either be killed or something else. There was no way of changing the verdict to his knowledge. Unless he yelled surprise and turned into a grimm and went full throttle on the king or something stupid like that that is… luckily he wasn't stupid.

The king growled. Not very kingly of him. He reminded Dexter more of a gang boss than a king. Maybe he was different in court. That was probably it. His true personality was already known as inhumanely calculative but that wasn't what he was acting as so it didn't really matter.

"I see. Laura still wishes to be wed to you, however she does not wish you happiness. She doesn't know what it is she wants. As I won't wed two people when neither truly want to be wed… well, I need my soldier back." The king reached into a pocket and dropped a letter on the coffee table. It wasn't wrinkled, surprisingly.

"The orders for Laura. I brought a copy based on your described abilities. You'll fufill them tomorrow and I'll hope to have no trouble from you again." The man's tone said differently. He expected no trouble. His aura said yet a different tone. He knew he would cause no trouble.

"Fix her. I don't care how. Find you have some as yet hidden feeling for her, show her to be independent like an adult - and believe me I tried this myself and it didn't work - , or even give her some kind of revelation. Do something. You're her friend. Fix her as I am unable to. Be there tomorrow for the battle."

With that the man strided off from the apartment…

Dexter really didn't like him.

"I don't like him." He said out loud.

"Nobody does." Joan groaned as he slumped in his seat.

"... Joan? Could you grab some gin for me?"

"In a few minutes. I just need to… stop working for a while." Joan threw his feet up on the couch and laid down with a groan. Dexter sympathised. The king was a bastard outside and a monster inside.

Fucker.

|-\\\/-|

Laura never came out if her room that night. Dexter set up his hammock and Joan slept on the couch. Rella was apparently staying with a friend of her sister's. Sleeping next to Laura was a bit too crowded for her.

Between the two of them they drank a good half of the liquor in the apartment (mostly Dexter. Joan drank like two beers). Dexter would have drank more but Joan didn't want him hungover for the battle. Not that he could get drunk…

Eventually Dexter peeked in on Laura. He would get her ready for the day tomorrow properly and get his talk in.

The king was an ass in every bad sense of the word but he was right in that Laura wasn't going to get better by herself. The two weeks with Lyra had proven this.

Laura was out cold. He would be getting her a warm bath tomorrow morning. That would probably help.

With Laura out, Rella gone, Joan mostly lucid and only buzzed heavily, and Mancer an ocean away there really wasn't an excuse. He wanted to tell somebody at least what he was.

It wasn't so much a need as an intense desire. Joan had stood by him since the beginning. He had so often placed trust in Dexter in missions. Nothing really made trust like trusting your safety and having it paid off.

"So Joan…" Dexter started. "About that thing I was telling you about earlier."

"The thing about your mother?" He asked. Dexter nodded with a frown he had been frowning a lot more lately.

"... Look, I come from a very important family. More important than the king's in many fashions but simultaneously more and less public. I'm only one of many of my mother's children but I'm really the only one in line for the head of the…" Kingdom? No. Clan? No. Horde? Derogatory. Brood is close enough but not really the impression he wanted to make…

"Family." Dexter decided. He just had a bunch of very stupid cousins, many of which he's killed because he needed to get better at killing. It didn't take a genius to wonder if family was the best word for it but that was what Dexter was going for.

Joan didn't respond but nodded in understanding that he was still with him.

"Twenty four years ago I was cast from my mother's side after my aura unlocked. Seeing potential she sent me to gain strength and return to her side or return to her side when she summons me. That's not really an issue though. I'll return when I feel like it or when she summons me, which would likely take a while."

"I'm telling you this because you seem like the only person except perhaps Lyra that won't have an extreme reaction. Lyra and my relationship is still new, though."

"So Joan… how do you account for all the abilities I have? My glare. My shapeshifting. My weapons. Have you noticed that my appearance hasn't changed at all since we first met?"

Joan looked thoughtful as he peered at Dexter. His lips pressed together when he realized that no he hadn't seen Dexter's appearance change at all.

"I don't need to go to the bathroom and I have, and I'll just say this now, infinite stamina. I don't sweat or smell when I work hard at all… my odd fixation with the grimm." Something clicked for Joan and his eyes widened in some realization. Dexter smiled without any real happiness. Though it wasn't actually possible his mouth felt dry.

"The first human I actually met was Laura. I knew my mother of course. But she's not human. Or faunus. I'm sure you've figured it out already. I'm a grimm. I call myself a high grimm as a sort of placeholder term for whenever I learn the actual name."

Joan didn't speak. Dexter could practically hear the gears cranking furiously in his head. "Here. Why don't I show you what my mother looks like. Or a caricature of her at least."

Dexter didn't have to try hard to remember his mother. Pale skin, bun-like hair with sort of mini-buns spiking back. Thin figure bordering emancipation, red lines coursing over her body almost like veins… and the dress of course. Black like silk.

Dexter opened his eyes and looked at himself. Not bad really. The dress wasn't well done but how she did that he had no idea. The hair was well done. The frame as well… the vein like structure was wrong but it was close enough.

Joan looked pale and gripped his chair hard. Dexter rolled his eyes and shifted back to normal. Joan looked at him seriously. "... You're a grimm that can appear as a human. Not a human that appears as a grimm at times." Dexter's fake smile turned a little mournful. More like a half-breed of a human soul and a grimm's body.

"This is my standard form now. My most comfortable one. Also my most deadly in many aspects."

"... fine. Assuming that this… absurdity is all true… what do you want?" Joan said with somewhat frightened eyes. Probably imagining what havoc Dexter could cause if he decided to overthrow the kingdom. He probably could. Not kill the king but ruin the kingdom? Absolutely. And nobody would believe Joan of course. Even if they did what would they do? He could change forms. Appear as anybody. He could appear as Laura, Lyra, Joan, or some random guy. He had aura too… he could be anyone anywhere.

"I don't want anything for the moment. Just to marry Lyra sometime soon enough. Perhaps a half a year. To get everybody out of this war safely. That will be hard but it's possible. To meet again with my mother for answers. To collect more loot for my little hoard. To crack the code on becoming a dragon, which I simply can't do for some reason. Nothing else I can think of off the top of my head. Oh, heal Laura's mental state."

"So… but… but why not the destruction of remnant?" Joan asked with caution. Dexter gave him his best 'are you stupid' look.

"What would the destruction of Remnant do for me? Humanity is far more interesting alive than dead. And believe me, my mother could have destroyed Remnant if she so cared to. She commands ALL grimm with some focus. They are her creations after all. Well… mostly. There's more to it than I know but nothing to do about it. But my mother is powerful. She barely works at all you know. Just plotting in her castle and doing as she pleases. It's ironic really. She doesn't want to destroy you all. She wants something else. I don't know what though."

Joan scowled. "... fine. Just fine." Dexter shook his head.

"I'm still the same person I've always been you realize. You don't have to do anything with this information. Joan took a shaky breath and a shakier sigh.

"Damnit… I believe you. You're right. It doesn't make sense." Dexter nodded.

"Any questions?" Dexter asked.

Joan stared at him for a moment. "Why can you do these things? Mimic a person so perfectly when in all we know the grimm are the polar opposites of humanity? Shift as you do? Hell, how you have an aura in the first place?!"

Dexter smiled faintly. "I have thoughts, emotions, and feelings just like a person. Polar opposites is a stretch. My mother isn't that different from a human, you know? I don't know how I can shift but I assume it's some sort of racial power such as is with glare. I have an aura for some unknown reason but I know what caused it."

"My mother happened across a strange soul one day. She picked it up and couldn't figure out any real use for it so she did what she felt like doing. She tossed to me, who was her pet at the time, and I ate it and changed. I gained my purpled eye, an aura that doesn't shield me, and most importantly, I gained sentience."

Joan groaned. "I'd love to ask more questions but… dust below Dexter… I need sleep. Right before the first real battle we've been in is not the time to drop things like this on me. A queen of grimm? You're a prince? Of Grimm of all things?! Ugh… sleep first." Dexter shrugged.

"We'll talk more about this after." Without waiting for a reply Dexter walked off towards his hammock and rested. Just in case he kept his ears open for Joan to try to kill him or something. He was inebriated and just had a massive veil opened from his eyes.

Joan did no such betrayal. He slumped to his bed, pulled a blanket over him, and was out like a blown candle. Idly Dexter wondered if he would remember this. Probably. He wasn't that tipsy. Just tired and stressed and inebriated.

|-\\\/-|

"Up!" Dexter said sternly. A sharp poke in Joan's side immediately followed. Joan twitched and curled in on himself to escape the unpleasantness but a hand grabbed his left arm and pulled him up. Immediately Joan's eyes locked onto the… beautiful coffee…

Not a word of complaint was uttered as Joan reached out and grasped the Vacuan coffee. A groan of appreciation escaped him as he woke up quickly. Dexter huffed as Joan finally got up. About time. He had let him sleep extra but eight was late enough. The king might get angry if they were later than ten. That was as far as Dexter was willing to push it since the army was already assembled. Huntsmen were expected to join the battle at their own pace. Free reign was given, as it so often was for the Valean huntsmen.

Normally Dexter wouldn't be cooking breakfast or buying coffee for Joan even if they were a little late but Joan had been drinking last night. He would have a small headache that would clear up soon enough. Some coffee, breakfast, and rest would do the trick. A battle where adrenaline was king would snap him right out of any funk that really persisted.

Laura was already taking a bath as Joan woke up. Some ice and fire in a tub and done. Joan would take his later.

As Dexter was spreading jam on some toast that was just a little undercooked Laura walked a little unsteadily into the living room. Dexter had woken her up with far less intensity than Joan. A gentle shake of the shoulder had woken her and a little talking had made her draw the bath.

It was a little worrying whether Laura was depressed or not. He needed to spend some time with her. She could get over her heartbreak with time. Dexter was certain of it. She wasn't pursuing him now at least. That was… probably good. Right? Dexter didn't know in all honesty. He was just hoping that time, friendship, and kindness could heal her but she had been rejected hard.

Just after she had been confident enough to attempt to marry him he had immediately gone off and married somebody else. An enemy of all things. She had waited for so long patiently, making her intentions clear and just letting him take his time coming to her.

He had been clear, sure, but she could probably have gotten one date out of him. Actually, she and he had gone on a sort of date back right before the squad, hadn't they? And then nothing for so long but the hints and small attempts until the four years ended. Dexter hadn't actually realized that it was a date back then. He had no idea Laura was romantically interested at all.

It brought to light just how naiive he had been. He had had no manners either. Granted, knowing which fork was for the salad and which was for fish was just a bit much but he could at least have a formal tone or stop messing with Laura.

A shuffle of the pan and Dexter flipped the egg well. He let it sit for another minute while Laura snatched the other coffee from the counter and sipped from it.

Silently Dexter smiled as he finished the eggs and put them on a plate. A little hash as well and he passed it to Laura, where it was immediately eaten almost robotically. That's not a good sign.

Soon enough Joan came out of the bath and Dexter handed him his eggs, scrambled this time, and he dug in with the same efficiency as Laura. He just didn't want to eat since he still had some alcohol in him but he knew he would need the breakfast. Battles made you hungry.

Dexter washed the plates and set them aside to dry. The alcohol remaining at the apartment could stay. They would need it when everyone survived.

Some coddling on Dexter's part and his groggy team eventually got to lucidity around nine forty.

There really wasn't delaying anything. They had a kind to report to and a battle to take place in. If they were lucky they would all make it out alive.

 **Omake:**

"Joan." Dexter asked. Joan's reaction was slower than normal but fast enough to think. Perhaps he should have held back on their now empty liquor cabinet. "Yeah?"

"If I was a Grimm in faunus form and I was actually a beowolf faunus rather than a wolf faunus… Well that wouldn't be it. My mother would also be the queen of Grimm who has some sort of probably bad plans for humanity. Maybe I would remember some freaky flashes of a previous life just to spice it up a little…"

"Anyways… would you be angry?"

Joan looked at him blearily. "How's that different from normal? Weird super semblance, crazy isolated mother, unnaturally fluffy faunus, and some soul memories that really don't matter… So why should I care? What makes that different than normal?"

Dexter paused. "We'll it's just hypothetical but good to know your opinion won't change based on these completely fabricated ideas."

"Mrbl…" Joan groaned.

Dexter stood around awkwardly for a moment. This really wasn't as planned.

Wait… Unnaturally fluffy ears? Dexter reached up and petted his ears. His floor stomped the ground a little. He growled. One day he would be able to pet his ears without turning into a mess.


End file.
